When She Was Bad
by susan19
Summary: Buffy is in a bad place since the Master killed her. Just before returning to Sunnydale from visiting her father in LA she meets someone who might understand.
1. Chapter 1

**Buffy**

I'm angry, frustrated, and just a little buzzed. I came out tonight looking for someone to help me with my frustrations. I thought this guy I'm dancing with might do. He's cute and all, but I can tell from the way he moves that he can't give me what I need.

I keep catching the eye of a brunette leaning against the wall. She's been openly staring at me, and I find myself staring back. I haven't thought about seeing if a woman was what I needed. They all seem too soft, and I don't want soft. She has something about her though, a strength hidden just below the surface. She might be exactly what I'm looking for.

I push away from the guy I'm dancing with, he reaches for my hand, complaining about something. I squeeze his fingers until I hear him yelp and he lets go. I never take my eyes off the brunette. She grins when she sees what I did.

I move closer to her, keeping a few feet between us. I need her to come to me. I want her to know who's in charge. She crosses her arms over her chest smirking, her tight clothes and body language are screaming sex at me. I feel something else, but I'm not quite sure what it is. I look her up and down, soaking in every inch of her while biting my lip. She moves closer, and my breath hitches at the way she moves.

"Hey."

Just that one word causes an involuntary shudder through my entire body. Now I'm sure, she is exactly what I need right now.

"Hey yourself."

"Did they tell you I was coming?"

"Did who tell me? Am I supposed to know who you are?"

"Guess that's a no. You still seem kinda happy to see me though."

She smiles and moves even closer. Standing only a few inches away. The music in the club is pulsing through me, and all I want to do is dance. I don't care who this girl is or that she thinks she knows who I am. All I care about is keeping thoughts of the master out of my head. I think she could help with that. Her body is subtly swaying with the music, and I know she feels this too.

I reach for her hand and pull her to the dance floor. I'm focused on the music, on my body and hers, the way we move together. We dance for what seems like hours, keeping perfect rhythm with each other. Her hands are everywhere as we move and grind our bodies together. No one has ever made me feel like this before.

The music finally stops, the lights in the club turn on bright, and people are yelling at us. I can't hear what they're saying. She pulls me through the back of the club and into an alley.

"That was fun, thanks." She says once we get outside. She smiles at me. I'm lost in her charms. Her dimples, her body, everything about the way she moves. I don't know what to say in response, but she doesn't give me the chance to say anything anyway.

I'm pinned against the side of the alley. Her thigh has moved its way between my legs. Her hands are on my hips, and mine are on hers.

"I'm Faith, by the way." She says just before she begins to kiss me. The kiss is mind-blowing. I have no thoughts. She's grinding her leg into my center, and I feel like the world is on fire. I never want this feeling to end. But it does, she stops kissing me but does not take away the pressure of her thigh. I find myself writhing against it, needing more contact, unable to contain myself.

"You are not what I was expecting." She says as she peppers my neck with amazing kisses, her hands sliding up under my shirt. I should care that she thinks she knows who I am, but I don't. I only care that she's not doing more to me. That we're not horizontal and naked.

"Take me somewhere?" I whisper to her, barely able to find my voice.

"Don't have anywhere to take you." She responds, and I find myself growling in frustration. I can't take her back to my dad's house. He already thinks I'm damaged and bringing a girl I don't even know home with me, won't help. The club we just left is now vacant, and there were couches.

"We could go back in there." She grins and pulls me closer, her hands sliding down to grab my ass. I can't help but wrap my legs around her waist as she carries me back to the alley door we used to exit.

She pulls the door open, I hear it rip on its hinges, but the sound doesn't really register. I'm too busy kissing and nibbling on her neck. I bite down a little, and she moans, it spurs me on, and I have to resist just knocking us to the ground right here. She continues to carry me, I can feel how strong her grip is on my thighs, I can't wait to feel that strength in other places.

She manages to carry me all the way to one of the couches, and we drop down together. My legs are still wrapped around her as her weight presses down on me.

"Time to find out how good slayer stamina can be." She mumbles as she rises a little to pull off her shirt. The amazing view almost makes me miss what she said.

"You know I'm the slayer?" I say completely shocked.

"Well yea, I'm one too."

"But.. how..?"

"Fuck if I know. I woke up a couple months ago with this crazy power. Some British guy told me to come to California and find you. I had no idea you would be so fucking hot." She moves her hands under my shirt and starts to pull it off. I should be freaking out for a thousand different reasons right now. I should make her stop. My body seems to have a mind of its own. Instead of stopping her, I help her take my shirt off.

I don't know how much time has passed, but now I'm on top of her. Our sweat covered bodies sliding easily over each other. "You are beautiful," I whisper, completely mesmerized by her hard but amazingly soft body.

"Don't."

"Don't what? I just spent all that time getting you to scream my name, which by the way..." I make a bizarre grunting noise that I didn't even know I could make as I remember what it sounded like, and now I've lost my train of thought. Oh yeah. "And I can't call you beautiful?"

"I'm not going to be your girlfriend."

"I don't remember asking you to be. I just figured we could be friends. Friends who occasionally scream each other's names."

"Friends?"

"Yeah, haven't you ever had a friend before?" If I wasn't so busy being a complete asshole, I might have noticed the look of horror on her face, and the slightest of head shakes. But I didn't notice, at least not enough to acknowledge it. Instead, I slid down her body, needing to know if she had any more in her.

**Faith**

As soon as we pulled up to her house in SunnyD, I knew everything was fucked. Her house was too perfect, the only thing missing was the white picket fence. She's not what I thought she was.

I shoulda known when her dad seemed pretty chill, but I just figured her mom was a wreck, but she's definitely not. She's picture-perfect and greets me like I'm an actual person, even though I know she knows I'm not.

B forces me up to her room and tells me to wait. If I had any doubts about what she really is, this room erases 'em. Pink everywhere, bed covered in stuffed animals and of course the wall of happy pictures of her perfect happy fucking life. I have to get out of here. I don't know if she's been fucking with me or what, but I don't need to be part of whatever this is.

I thought we were the same, I thought she was dark and twisty like I am. I thought we'd understand each other, but there's no way. I don't know how I let her convince me to come here.

Before I can escape, she's on me, one hand up my shirt and another down my pants. She biting none too gently on my neck as she forces me up against the door. This is not happening, how am I letting this happen? Nobody does this to me. I never give up control, but she feels so fucking good I can't seem to make her stop. I want to fight her my body won't listen. My hands are free - but instead of shoving her away - they're pulling her closer.

The doorbell rings and her mom calls up the stairs. "Fuck." She grunts in my ear, pushing her fingers into me harder and faster.

I hear footsteps approaching. She jams her fingers into my mouth to keep me quiet, I let out a strangled groan as I come. Fucking hell, what just happened?

She pulls her hand out of my pants and presses them to my lips for a second and then puts them in her mouth, cleaning them. It's the sexiest fucking thing I've ever seen, and now I've totally forgotten why I wanted to leave so bad.

I'm ready to return the favor, but her mom knocks on the door, and I almost jump out of my skin. She giggles at me. I hate the way she's looking at me, like she's won. Like she owns me. Nobody owns me, and she's gonna find that out soon. I take a step towards her, ready to slam her against the wall, but before I can, there's another knock, and she's opening the door.

I have no choice but to follow her downstairs to meet her friends.

"So, Faith. Do you have a place to stay?" Xander asks, leering at me. I know what he wants, he's been all over me. Flirting and staring. I'd flirt back, but the one time I did, she kicked me under the table. She might have even growled a little. I'm not sure if it's 'cause of him or me, but I don't want to get kicked again. That shit hurt.

"She's staying here," B answers before I can. I guess that's been decided, I didn't plan to stay here. We never talked about it. Not that we talked about much of anything. It was a crazy long car ride with her dad. I just sat in the back and stared out the window. Trying to figure out how the chosen one was so different than everything I had been expecting. Now I don't know what the hell to think. The sex is fucking hot and beyond amazing, but I'm sensing some serious drama in my future if I stick around.

We've eaten all the food, dishes have been cleared away, and we're just chatting. I can tell that something is very wrong. Her friends and Mom seem really put off by the things she says. Some of which I have to resist giggling at, other things she says make me cringe.

"I'll just go grab some bedding to make up the couch for you, Faith." Joyce offers and I nod, trying to be the best house guest I can.

"She can stay in my room."

"Nah, the couch is cool. Thanks, Mrs. S." There is no fucking way I'm sleeping in her room.

I swear she growls again. "Fine. I'm going to go for a walk." She shoves herself back from the table and starts to leave. "Are you coming?"

"No, I'll stay here and help clean up." There's not really anything to help with, but I'm not going to be alone with her either.

She glares at me but says nothing, turning and heading out of the house. Slamming the door on her way out.

I turn back to look at three completely shocked faces. Mrs. S sighs and shakes her head, heading upstairs. I'm left with Xander and Willow looking at me.

"What happened to her in LA?" Willow finally asks.

"I don't know, just met her yesterday." I shrug, I'm itchin to get the hell out of here.

"You just met her, and she brought you back here?" Red asks, she looks wicked confused.

"Yeah, well I was coming here anyway." I don't know if they know who she is. She didn't tell me anything about them.

"I think she's just still wigged from the master," Xander says - Willow pinches him to get him to stop talking, but it doesn't work. "What? I think dying probably messes with your head a bit. That's all." Then his eyes widen as he realized what he said.

"So you guys know who she is?" I ask figuring they must know, if they know she died.

"She told you?"

"No. I just knew."

"How?"

I sigh, guess there's no point in trying to hide. "I'm a slayer too. They sent me here to help out." Nobody sent me anywhere. I kinda took off after some shit happened with my watcher. I plan to stay as far from the council as I can, I don't trust those fuckers. I wouldn't even have approached Buffy if she hadn't been so hot and clearly into me.

"Another slayer!" Willow seems way too excited about this. Joyce is coming down the stairs, and she calms. "Her mom doesn't know." She whispers. "I'm sure we'll talk more later. Are you going to be going to school with us?"

"I doubt it." There's no way in hell that I'm going to school. She frowns at me, and I try not to laugh. These seem like nice people - but I know they're not my kind of people. They'd freak the fuck out if they had any idea what their best buddy was doing to me upstairs.

"OK, well I'm sure we'll see you around. We help with research and sometimes the... Other stuff." She looks awkwardly at Joyce, offering a weak smile.

They leave, and I move into the living room. I see that, along with making up the couch as a bed. She also laid out some shorts and a t-shirt for me to sleep in. "Thanks for letting me stay here tonight. I'll find my own place tomorrow."

She gives me a look I can't quite read but nods. "Goodnight, Faith."

"Goodnight." It's freaky as hell having someone say goodnight to me, I'm not sure it's ever happened before.

I change and climb into the couch, surprised when I fall asleep almost immediately. I'm woken up sometime later as Buffy furiously enters the house and runs upstairs.

I barely look up as she storms past. I don't know what the hell her problem is. I have got to get out of here. I consider just leaving now, but I don't have anywhere to go, and it's nice to sleep somewhere warm and clean for once. I close my eyes and hope tomorrow will make more sense.

I wake up to find hands trying to pull my clothes off. I grab them and glare.

"What are you doing?"

"I thought it was pretty obvious what I was doing."

"Stop," I say as I try to shove her away. She has a crazy grip on my shirt, though.

"Why? Nobody is home." She grins at me, and it would be so easy to give in. I'm not even sure why I'm not.

"Stop."

"Fine." She finally moves away. Pouting and crossing her arms over her chest.

She gets a nasty gleam in her eye and jumps off the couch, heading upstairs. "Guess I'm going to have to find someone else to entertain me since you won't."

I just glare at her, I don't give a fuck what she does with anyone else.

"I'm sure Xander is already up. Even if he isn't, I know I can do something about that." She winks and heads upstairs.

What the fuck is her problem? Is she trying to make me jealous? Why do I even care? I head up to her room, not because I'm jealous, just to tell her I'm done with her shit.

She's facing me with a smirk, she's taken her pants and underwear off. I do owe her for the other day, so I guess I can fuck her one more time before I leave.

I shove her hard against the wall. Pressing my forearm across her shoulders to keep her in place. To make sure she knows exactly what this is. I jam my fingers into her, and she groans at the force of it. She closes her eyes and rotates her hips, begging me to give her more.

"Open your eyes." She doesn't. I don't even know why I want her to. For some reason, I need her to. I press harder into her with my arm, her head smashes into the wall. "Open your eyes," I growl, and she finally does. My heart stops. There is so much pain and sadness I can't even stand it. I back away from her and her eyes quickly return to the fury they've had since I met her. The fury that I thought was who she was.

"What are you doing?! Get back here!" She yells at me and steps forward.

"Not this, I can't do this." I back away, not wanting to take my eyes off of her in case she attacks me. Based on her kicks under the table, I'm sure I don't want to full-on fight her even if we are both slayers.

"Then get the hell out of here!"

My back hits the door. "Why are you doing this? What is the matter with you?" I ask quietly, I can't help myself. She has so much, how can she be trying so hard to pretend she's something she's not? I still have no idea why I care.

"You don't know anything about me." She scowls at me, arms folded over her chest.

"I know this isn't who you are."

"How can you possibly know who I am?"

"There's no way you have this amazing mother and friends if this who you are."

"Fuck you! Just get out of here!" She's screaming at me, but there are tears in her eyes.

I know I'm right about this.

I want to laugh at her, she's trying to be so hard, but I can see she's soft inside. She's put up walls and tried to shut everything out, but it's creeping back in. She doesn't know what it's like to have to be hard. To need it to survive.

"You said you wanted to be my friend. I've never had one before, but I'm pretty sure this isn't how friends treat each other. You want to use me just like everyone else does. I don't have to put up with that anymore. And I'm sure as shit not putting up with it from you."

She gasps a little and backs away from me. I turn to open the door. Her voice freezes me before I can open it.

"Have you ever died?"

"Actually, yeah." I really wish I didn't just say that. Something is making me want to connect with her, I can't seem to hide from her the way I can with everyone else.

"You did? When? How?" She seems oddly excited about the news of me dying.

"It doesn't matter. Thing is, I didn't have what you have."

"What do I have?"

"People who love and care about you. I would give anything to know what that's like." I can't believe I just admitted that. The look on her face tells me I finally reached her. She drops to the bed, wrapping her arms around herself and starts to cry. I'm drawn to her despite myself, I pull her to me and hold her while she cries. I don't know what the hell I'm doing. I have no reason to comfort her.

"Buffy? Are you OK?" Mrs. S opens the door and sees us. Her eyes widening as she sees her daughter's shorts and underwear pooled on the floor. Guess she lied about no one being home, what the hell would have happened if I didn't stop her downstairs? I wonder how much of what I said she heard.

"It's not what it looks like. She was just changing." I quickly stand up and back away from the bed.

She looks at me like she knows I'm lying. "Yes, well. I'm just going to get breakfast started. Come down when you're ready."

"It's not her fault, don't be mad at her." Buffy offers, wiping the tears from her cheeks.

"I'm not mad, dear. We just have things to talk about if Faith will be staying with us."

"I told you I was going to leave today."

"We have a spare room. You should stay. I think this is where you belong." She smiles sadly at me and exits the room.

"She's right, you know. This is where you belong."

"I don't belong anywhere." What is it with these people? They don't know anything about me, why would they want me to stay here?

She frowns and gets dressed. "I'm sorry about… how I've been... I had a rough summer. I used a lot of people."

"It's OK. I think I get it." I'm not sure why I think I do. I'm pretty sure we have nothing in common except being slayers.

"Yeah, I think you do too. That's why you should be here. We're the only ones who can possibly understand what it's like."

I don't know what to do. There's no doubt we have a connection, and that we'll probably have a lot of fun together. I just can't let myself get too attached. Things I get attached to tend to get broken.

"Tell me about how you died."

I shrug, wishing I hadn't admitted to it. Her eyes are pleading with me, and as much as I want to resist, I just can't. She needs to feel close to me, and I need to let her. "It was before... My ma's drug dealer. I don't really remember much. I was yelling at him to get out, and he started beating on me."

I watch her face as I explain, expecting to see pity or something similar. I don't see that at all. I only see fury and anger. Her fists clenched on her lap. "I woke up a few weeks later. They said I was dead for 3 minutes. Had to keep me in a coma until I recovered."

"What happened to him?"

I grin at the memory. "It was a few months later when I got my power. I didn't know what was happening. I was just wicked strong all of a sudden. So I paid him a visit. I think he's still in his coma."

She laughs, and I feel alive. She gets it. She gets me. I'm pretty sure anyone else would be horrified by what I just told her. My watcher was wicked pissed when she found out what I did. Giving me a speech on not hurting humans. I'm not sure a guy like that counts as human, so whatever.

She stands up and holds out her hand, "so you'll stay?"

The smell of breakfast drifts up the stairs, and my stomach responds. If there's going to be a warm bed and regular food, not sure I can really complain too much. "Yeah, I'll stay. I'm not going to be your girlfriend, though."

"We'll see about that." She winks at me and leads me out of the room.


	2. Chapter 2

**Faith**

I don't even know where to start.

I shoulda left right away - I knew she was gonna turn my life upside down. I know she blames me for spillin' the big secret about us being slayers. If you ask me - it's made her life a hell of a lot easier now that she doesn't have to hide from her mom. I can't believe she thought she could get away with that anyway.

Her mom is nothing like my ma. Joyce notices shit like fresh bruises and torn up clothes. My ma woulda just given me some nice new bruises if I ever tore my clothes.

I'm so fucking pissed off I can't even think straight. Speaking of straight. Here comes the source of all my problems right now.

"Hi, Faith!" She comes running up to me with that big smile on her face. I can't decide if I wanna smash it in or kiss it until she sees stars.

"B." I have to turn away, 'cause I know I can't do either of those things.

"Something wrong?" She asks like she gives a shit - she asks like she doesn't know exactly what the fuck is wrong.

"Nah, B. I'm five by five."

"You know - somehow, I don't believe you."

"Well - that's your fucking problem," I say and start to walk away, but suddenly there are arms wrapped around my stomach and a chin resting on my shoulder. This is another thing she's been doing that's driving me crazy. She is _always_ touching me. Always stands or sits as close as possible to me. At first, I didn't mind so much - but now… now she's making my skin crawl.

"Tell me what's wrong."

I pull out of her arms and take a few steps away, again wondering why the hell I haven't already left. "I saw you last night."

"Saw me doing what?" She acts completely surprised, and I just laugh and shake my head.

"Gotta hand it to you, B. I thought I was the one who was completely fucked up." I cross my arms over my chest and look her over like I'm impressed by what a bitch she is. Maybe I am a little impressed - or I would be if I wasn't so angry.

"Faith, seriously - what are you talking about?"

"You're telling me after two weeks of this bullshit you've been putting me through - you can't figure out what I'm talking about?"

She tilts her head at me like she really has no idea.

I roll my eyes at her, "whatever, B. Catch ya later." Or not - my bag is already packed, and I am leaving as soon as I can sneak away from her.

"Faith, please. Talk to me. If this is just about sex..." She starts, and I stalk closer to her. I take a deep breath - the stench of vampire is all over her.

She's been stringing me along for two weeks. Telling me she just needed time to figure out what she wanted. I still can't figure out why the fuck I care. I kept telling her I wasn't gonna be her girlfriend. Yet here I am - like a moron - waiting to see if she'll pick me over a vampire.

And now I'm more pissed at myself than I am at her.

"It's not just about sex." I move back, I can't stand how she smells, and I can't stand how she's looking at me. "It's about you having sex with everyone but me!"

She looks like I just slapped her. "I would never! Angel just wanted to talk. I swear we didn't…"

I push out a breath, I don't know whether or not to believe her. Most of me really wants to. She's got me so fucked up I can't figure out what to think about any of this shit.

"Baby, please believe me."

Fuck - why did she have to call me baby? I wanna smack myself in the head to get my brains to function again. This girl has me so twisted up. I don't want this - I don't want any of this. I want to go back to when I didn't give a shit about anyone or anything. It was so much easier then.

Who am I kidding? Can't even lie to myself about this anymore. It sucked being alone and cold all the time. It sucked, never knowing if I could eat or find a safe place to sleep. I don't even know if I can go back to that hell. But this hell is worse - since she gave me a taste of what it was like not to be cold and hungry all the time. Now I have to choose between watching her with her vampire boy-toy or going back out into the cold.

"I just need some time." I can't believe I just said that shit. She's got me acting like a chick in those stupid movies she loves so much.

"OK - I get that... But…"

"But what? For fuck's sake, B." I'm shaking now. I'm so angry.

She steps back from me, now looking a little afraid. I tell myself to keep attacking her. She should be afraid of me. She should be fucking terrified.

"Maybe it doesn't matter to you anymore… but I made my decision."

Ok, that's got me crackin' up. "Yeah - I can smell your decision all over you."

She tilts her head at me again like a confused puppy dog. I always used to think I wanted a dog - but now maybe I'm glad I never had anything that I actually let myself care about.

"Are you mad because I borrowed your t-shirt again?"

Ok - so now I'm the confused one. "You don't smell like me - you smell like your pet vampire."

She scrunches up her face in disgust and starts pulling her clothes away like she's trying to figure out where the smell is coming from.

"It's all over you, B."

"Gross." Then she shakes her head. "Ok - I have no idea why that is. I haven't seen him since last night. And he didn't get anywhere near me."

"Right - sure he didn't. And that's why you had that big smile on your face as you snuck back into the house." And now I've just admitted that I'm a crazy stalker. Why the fuck am I still standing here?! I should be long gone - not just standing here like a loser - hoping for something I know I can never have.

She narrows her eyes a little, and now I'm the one who's backing up.

"Believe me - Angel had nothing to do with why I was smiling. And if you were awake, why didn't you answer when I knocked on your door?"

"Cause I knew you'd stink like him, and I didn't want to deal with it."

She scowls and pulls at her clothes again. I'm really running out of patience.

"Could you get to the point? I agreed to meet you - but I've got other shit to do." There - I hope she buys that. I hope she realizes I'm not gonna wait around forever. Cause I'm not. Just as soon as we're done with whatever this is - I'm gone.

**Buffy**

Blech. Why the hell do I smell like Angel? I'm going to have to burn everything I've ever worn near him, I guess. Especially if it's freaking her out this much.

I reach into my pocket and pull out a key card and wave it at her. Her eyes widen a little as she realizes what it is.

"The fuck is that? You trying to tell me you're dumping me and kicking me out?" She's got her arms crossed over her chest, and she looks pretty furious.

I really shouldn't love it so much when she swears. I know she's pissed off, and I have to fix it. "No - I had something else in mind for this." I motion to the card again. "But if you're not interested…" I tease her a little, and I can see her trying to decide how to react.

"You just assume I'm gonna do whatever you want?"

I smile because she drops her arms and takes a step closer, and I know she's going to do exactly what I want. "Not assuming - just hoping." Her nose wrinkles as she gets almost within arms reach, and I sigh. "It's really that bad?"

"I can probably ignore it - at least while your clothes are lying on the floor of that hotel room."

I bite my lip in anticipation. I can't believe how stupid I was to even think about picking Angel over her. I've never felt this intense need for anyone else. I wrap my arms around her and start kissing her neck. "I was hoping we might go dancing first."

She groans as I mark her lightly - it'll be gone in the morning - but for tonight - everyone will know who she belongs to.

She looks down at me, and I can tell she's holding her breath.

"Damn it. Let's go back home so I can change."

"But… it's fine, really."

"It's not fine - I don't want you passing out because you can't breathe when you're near me. I plan on you being very near me tonight."

It only takes a few minutes to get back to the house. Unfortunately, my mom is still awake.

"I thought you girls were going out tonight?"

"We are - I just need to change." I hope she doesn't say anything - I told her about my plans. Well, not all of my plans. Just that I was planning on asking Faith to be my girlfriend. I had thought she was going to freak out - but she was so relieved that I wasn't dating an ancient vampire that dating a girl seemed like no big deal.

For as uncivilized as Faith sometimes seems to be - she has managed to show my mother only the most respectful side of herself. I don't really understand why - but I am very grateful for it. I still haven't figured her out, but I know I'm hers and she's mine.

Mom did say that we couldn't share a room - hence the key card. I'm hoping that's not going to be too much of a problem for us and finding time to be alone. I don't want anything getting in the way of us being together. I told Faith she didn't have to wait for me to decide what I wanted - but guessing by how cranky she's been lately - I think maybe she has been waiting.

"Fuck." Faith hisses after I dragged her into my room and shut the door. She pulled her shirt up over her mouth - which revealed her incredibly sexy stomach. The fact that she's grossed out by how bad my room smells detracts a little from the sexiness. Only a little, though.

"It's really that bad?" I take a deep breath, and I don't smell anything. I'd think maybe she was making it up - but I can't imagine why she would. For some reason, her vampire detecting senses seem to be better than mine - I'm going to need to ask Giles about that.

"It's fucking everywhere! How can you not smell that? You sure you haven't brought him up here?"

"Of course, I'm sure. He hasn't been in here since I knew what he was." Ok, so maybe that isn't as true as it should be. But I don't even remember exactly when the last time was.

"There's no way that's true." She starts moving around the room, going through my drawers, and sniffing everything. I'd be offended, but I'm pretty freaked out. From her face, it looks like his scent is in every one of my drawers and the closet.

"This is just great. I wonder if Giles knows some spell to get rid of his stench. I don't want to have to burn all my clothes."

"So what are we gonna do? I mean, he must have been here recently for it to be this bad."

Now I'm starting to freak out a little. I had hoped I'd be able to change, and we could get back to my plans - but now it looks like that isn't going to happen. "We can't just leave my mom here. What if he comes back?"

She nods at me, and we both head downstairs to talk to my mom.

"Mom - do you have somewhere you can spend the night?"

"Adults don't really do sleepovers, dear."

Faith chuckles, and I have to elbow her in the ribs. Luckily my mom didn't notice. "Would you mind staying over with Giles tonight then?" Faith laughs louder this time and dodges my attempted elbow. She's going to pay for this later - and she knows it.

"How about you explain why I need to?"

"It seems that maybe Angel didn't handle my rejection all that well. He's been in my room, and I just don't want to take the risk of leaving you here alone. But we need to take care of him, and I need to know that you're safe."

"Very well." She gives me that disappointed look. The same one she gave last week when she found out that Faith and I were slayers. Honestly, I expected a much bigger reaction. I wonder if she's under the same spell the rest of the town is. The one where they easily explain away all the deaths because of gangs and PCP.

Now is not the time. We have a vampire to talk to, and I have a very special night planned with Faith that I'd like to get back to.

Luckily, there was a basket of laundry that hadn't made its way into my room yet. Faith verified that it was Angel free - and we head over to talk to Giles. It might have been smart to warn him about this visit - but I didn't want the risk of him saying no.

After a lot of awkward stares and watching Giles clean his glasses a hundred times, he finally agrees to let my mother stay with him while Faith and I hunt Angel down. He also promised to get to work on a dis-invite spell. He was less enthused about researching a way to save all my clothes.

With my mom safely tucked away - Faith and I head towards Angel's apartment.

"B. Are you sure about this?"

"Sure about what?"

"About me."

I stop walking and look at her. I've never seen her look insecure - and I have to say - I'm not loving it. "I'm completely sure."

"But how can you be? Angel..."

I stalk towards her and quickly shut her up with a kiss. "Listen to me. Angel and everyone else in my life - they all expect me to fit into this box. This perfect cheerleader/normal girl box. And yeah, I know sometimes I have to pretend that's who I am. But it's not. You're the only one that lets me feel like it's OK to just be who I am. To feel whatever it is that I'm feeling." I can't quite tell what she's thinking, but her hands are gripping my hips tight enough to cause bruises. I really hope that's a good sign.

"But don't you want to be in that box? You did all that career fair bullshit."

I chuckle a little, "yeah - I did it because I knew I had to. I have to play the part - keep my mom happy - keep everyone from looking too closely. And maybe there was a time when I wanted those things. Maybe I fought against who I was and what I wanted - until I met you. Until I saw that it was OK to just feel. To just be. I know it's not always going to be easy. And that's all the more reason why I want to enjoy as much of my life as I can."

She furrows her brow as she thinks about what I'm saying.

"Does any of that make sense to you?"

She's silent for a lot longer than I'd like her to be. I can see the wheels turning, and I'm pretty sure she's about to say the exact wrong thing. So I back up, but she won't let me go.

"Where are you going?"

"Far enough away that I don't have to hear you tell me how I deserve a normal life." I hear a growl a moment before I feel myself being pinned to the ground.

"Fuck you if you think that's what I was going to say." I try to get out from under her, but she's got me pinned. Then she starts kissing my neck, and any interest I have in getting away is completely gone. "Normal is bullshit. Nothing about you could ever be normal."

"Fuck." I hiss as she sucks on my neck - no doubt marking me the same way I marked her earlier. Suddenly my two hands are pinned with just one, and her other hand is snaking its way down my body and sliding into my pants.

I kinda wish I didn't waste money on a hotel room now - but I also wish there weren't rocks digging into my back and… I should really not be thinking about any of that right now.

My god - seriously - what was I thinking making either of us wait any amount of time to do this again?

"Buffy?"

Shit, shit, shit. Ok, maybe there's some small chance that they didn't see what we were just doing. Faith moved pretty quick...she's already standing, and since she didn't actually unbutton my pants, it just looks like we were sparring.

One look on my best-friends' faces and I'm pretty sure there's no chance they're going to buy any of that. Faith looks almost as freaked out as they do. That is not going to work for me. I grab her hand before she can get further away from me.

"Hey, guys. What are you doing out after dark?"

Xander's mouth is hanging open, but Willow seems to have recovered her senses. Though maybe she looks a little angrier than I'd like. "We were just heading back from the Bronze and thought we heard fighting. What are you two doing out here?" So Willow is definitely pissed off, and Faith is trying to slink away from me again.

"We were on our way to talk to Angel. He's been sneaking into my room at night, and I need to know why."

That seemed to jar Xander back into reality. "How do you know?"

"Cause he stinks, and his scent is all over B's room." Faith answers, and that seems to set Willow off.

"How do you know he doesn't have a good reason for being in there? Maybe he just had some information to share." Willow looks like she's planning on threatening Faith but luckily decides not to.

"Maybe - pretty sure he doesn't need to get into B's underwear drawer to share information, though." Faith takes an aggressive step towards Willow, and that is doing all kinds of confusing things to me. I really want to get this confrontation over so we can get back to what we were doing.

I tug on her hand a little to pull Faith back to my side. "Willow - I told him yesterday that there was no way we were ever going to be more than friends. I have to think it has to do with that. But this is why we want to talk to him. If he does have a good reason - he'll have a chance to explain.

Willow crosses her arms over her chest and pouts. "Fine, but we're coming with you."

Well, that ruins all my plans to let Faith finish what she was doing earlier. But I can tell there's no getting around this.

"Are you two dating?" Xander blurts out, and I feel Faith stiffen next to me.

"We haven't exactly discussed the details yet. But..." I look at her questioningly and hold my breath while I wait for her reaction. She finally nods, and I let my breath out. "Yes - we are dating."

"How did… when did… but you're not…" Xander starts to babble, and I let her hand go to face him and put my hands on his shoulders.

"Breathe." I take a few deep breaths along with him, and he seems ok again.

"Cool." He finally says, and I have to roll my eyes as I just know he's going to be thinking about us for the rest of his life. I can't exactly blame him for that, though.

Willow, on the other hand - I can hear her grinding her teeth from here.

"Do you mind staying with Xander for a bit? I need to talk to Willow." I ask Faith, and she shrugs.

"Will?" I have to say her name a few more times before she finally realizes I'm talking to her.

Once she sees that Faith and Xander have moved ahead of us, she crosses her arms over her chest again. I can't tell if she's angry or hurt - she probably can't tell either. "Are you going to be able to deal with this? I thought you liked Faith."

Willow's expression changes a few more times before she takes in a deep breath, and the angry part of her seems to melt away. "I just don't know why you didn't tell me about this. I thought I was your best friend."

"You are my best friend." I give her my patented Buffy smile - the one no one can resist, and she seems to relax a little. "I had every intention of telling you - I just didn't quite work out what I was feeling until today. Then things happened pretty fast."

"But you could have talked to me - to help you work out those feelings. I didn't even know that you were thinking about Faith that way. Since you... It's like I don't even know you anymore.".

"Look." I take a breath to center myself. "Maybe you don't know me anymore. Dying… changed me. There's no way around that. But the thing that dying helped me figure out is that I don't want to pretend anymore. I don't want to just do something because I'm supposed to. People who get to live a normal life span get to make safer and easier choices…" I see her scowl, and I realize I need to change my tone here. "But… the other thing it helped me see is who I want to surround myself with. Who and what I really care about. You and Xander are still my best friends. You two are who I want to spend my time with."

She seems to relax a little. "And Faith is…?"

I let the question hang in the air, I have a million dirty answers to that question, but I'm sure she's not going to want to hear that. I know Faith is close enough so that she can hear what I'm saying. So I have to be very careful with how I answer. "Faith is…"

"...Gonna fuck you later." Travels to my ears before I can finish what I'm going to say, and I have to struggle not to laugh.

"We'll see," I whisper back to her and see her grin as she's pretending to listen to whatever Xander is babbling about.

"What?" Willow asks, and I realize she was still waiting for an answer.

"Faith and I share something. Something that's hard to explain. It's not more or better than what I share with you or Xander. It's just different." I really hope she can accept that answer. I don't want to hurt her feelings. I want to be able to keep my friends and Faith.

"I'm just worried about you. You seem… reckless."

That catches my attention because it's true, I just didn't think anyone had noticed. "I know. I know I got lost for a while. But now… now I see how I need to balance everything. So I can both be happy and keep the world safe."

"And stay alive." She adds helpfully.

"Right - both - happy, safe, and alive." I grin at her, and she laughs at my stupidity. I think we're finally somewhere good. Somewhere comfortable. I didn't tell her everything. I couldn't possibly, I know she won't understand. She still thinks I'm in that safe/normal box that I'm supposed to live in. But I'm not. I could never be again.

Willow and Xander are important to me. So just like I have to put on some kind of show for Giles and my mother - I have to put one on for my friends too. I can't let them worry about me.

"Um… was her hand in your pants?" I start to cough as I try to hide my shock from the abruptness of her question.

I open my mouth to answer, but I look at her, and she has this far away look on her face. I see that she's looking in Faith's direction, and now I'm wondering why she's asking. She shakes her head a little, and the topic seems dropped. Maybe some other time, I'll try talking to her more about it. We're almost to Angel's apartment anyway.

I motion for Willow and Xander to stay put while I go to the door. Faith stays a little out of the way, in case he's home. I knock and wait a few moments before knocking again. Pressing my ear to the door, I can't hear any movement. I grip the handle and easily break the lock. Faith is by my side as I enter. Willow and Xander stay in the doorway.

The apartment is pretty small, and it doesn't take long to verify that he's not here. Faith beelines for something and shoves it into her pocket before I can tell what it is. We walk Xander and Willow home, trusting that neither of them would be dumb enough to invite him in. Even if we don't have any real proof that he's dangerous.

Willow's house is furthest away, and I can just tell she's got something she can't wait to say. It's an awkward silence as we walk, and I hold my breath as she stands in the doorway facing us. She looks at both of us, and I'm pretty sure this is the longest moment I've ever had to suffer through.

"See you tomorrow at school?" She asks, and it takes me a minute to figure out what she said, Faith nudges me, and finally, I nod. "Good night." She says and shuts the door.

I breathe out heavily in relief and start walking. Before we get too far, Faith presses fabric into my hand. "Picked this up for you - didn't think you'd want your best buds seeing."

As soon as I realize what the fabric is and where it came from - I give out a girly squeal and throw them on the ground. "What the hell? Did you think those were mine?"

She looks confused - then embarrassed. "I mean…" I kick the offending pair of used panties away from me. "So maybe he wasn't as upset about you as we thought?"

"That would be a relief." I mean it. I really do. I made my choice. Without any doubt - Faith is my choice. But it would make my life much easier if Angel moved on and wasn't freaking out about it. I pull the key card out of my pocket and wait for her response. We could go back to my house - but really, the idea that he's been in there freaks me out.

Suddenly I'm being dragged and struggling to keep up with her as we run towards the hotel. We run way faster than we should be in public - but it's like 2 am, and no one would be able to see us long enough to tell who we are anyway.

It takes me five tries to get the card to go in the little slot. It's hardly my fault. I'm pressed against the door, and there's one hand in my pants and another under my bra. Who can be expected to tell which way the stupid card is supposed to face? Finally, I get it, and we stumble into the room.

I carefully untangle us so that I can turn to see her. She starts kissing me immediately - but there are a few things I need to say before things get out of hand.

"I swear to god - if you tell me we have to wait…" I press my finger to her lips - because I do not want to hear the rest of that threat, and I don't want her to have to say it.

"No waiting - this is happening. I just…" She's kissing me again, and I have to fend her off. She growls as I push her away.

"B…" She threatens and moves closer.

"Faith." I caution and wait for her to calm down. She might have a little more chaos on her side, but I'm better trained, and she knows it. I have zero interest in actually fighting her, and would never do anything to hurt her - but I need to get this out.

She steps back and crosses her arms over her chest. Defensive, angry Faith is not who I'm interested in talking to right now. I gently unfold her arms and pull her to the couch. I push her down and then straddle her, her hands instantly go to my waist, and I almost forget why I want to talk first.

"I just want to be sure. If we do this - if we go forward… I want you to be my girlfriend and only mine. I'm not saying I expect you to buy me flowers or hold my purse while I try on clothes. But I do expect you to be mine." I give her a slight squeeze with my thighs, and she groans.

She's clearly trying to keep it together. "B…" She takes in a breath before meeting my eyes. "I've been yours since I saw you crush that guy's fingers. I tried to fight it - tried to pretend like… like I didn't care about you…" Then she shakes her head, and I see a tear roll down her cheek. "I don't trust people. I don't trust anyone - ever."

I know what she's saying, and suddenly my heart is so full I can't even breathe.

"There are things I'm gonna struggle with. Mistakes I might make. I've never…. I've never had anyone..." Then she can't meet my eyes, and I can tell she's fighting hard not to cry.

"You'll have me. You'll always have me." I hope she's hearing everything that I'm not sure she's ready to hear, just like I don't think I'm ready to say them. I don't think it's as simple as love. Not that love is simple. I don't know if it's because we're slayers or because we both died - all I know is that when I look at her - I see understanding that I know I'll never see from anyone else.

As I look into her eyes - something changes for me. Honestly, I had thought I was going to have to give up the emotional side of any future relationships. It isn't why I picked her over Angel - but I did think she'd be able to handle it better than he could.

She's only ever indicated to me that she didn't do emotional attachments. But as I look into her eyes, I know that's not true. Neither of us may be ready to acknowledge what's happening here - but we don't need to.

I lean down and very gently begin to kiss her. This is nothing like our previous kisses. It's soft, slow, and perfect. Things are starting to get a little heavier than I'm ready to deal with - luckily the same seems true for her. She easily stands up and carries me across the room.

She practically throws me onto the bed and begins undressing. Not wanting to be left behind, nor risk her tearing my last Angel-free outfit - I do the same. In no time at all, we're both naked and she's laying on top of me. Kissing and biting as our bodies slide together. Nothing about this is soft and slow and I am very much OK with that.


	3. Chapter 3

**Faith**

So last night was obviously the best night of my entire life. I don't know how the hell she always knew exactly the right thing to say or do. She played my body like an expert, and I'm pretty sure I rocked her world just as much.

There's no doubt about it - I'll never be able to have sex with anyone but Buffy ever again.

Of course, that's at least a little because I'm tied to a fucking chair, and I'm pretty sure I'm not gonna live long enough to try.

The one good thing about that - at least it means I won't get a chance to fuck things up either. Look at me, trying to see something positive about a totally fucked situation. I was definitely right about B turning my life upside down. Can't say this is exactly how I saw it going down, but I shoulda known any good I get to feel would immediately be taken away from me.

Alright - enough of that. I've been in worse situations than this - maybe if I can just figure out where I am and who has me - I can find some way to get myself out of here.

Where the fuck am I? I can't see shit, and there's a gag stuck in my mouth. My arms are tied to the chair behind me, and I can barely even move them. I take a deep breath, and now I have a pretty good idea that what happens next is gonna suck.

There's a rope around my stomach and more tying each ankle to the chair. I try moving a little, but I can tell I'm not going anywhere. Whoever tied me up definitely knows who I am. That pretty much rules out someone random doing this.

How did someone sneak into that motel room to take me? Could she have set me up? Nah - there's no way I'd believe that - not after last night. There's no way.

What if whoever did this has her too? OK, now I'm panicking and trying as best as I can to break this chair.

"Finally, you're awake." The blindfold is pulled off, and I'm not at all surprised to see Angel standing in front of me with a stupid smirk on his face. Just wait till I get out of this - I am definitely gonna stake him - don't care what B says.

"I should really be thanking you, Faith." He bends over and licks the side of my face.

Holy fuck that is gross. Once I get outta here, I'm gonna need to take a thousand showers to get the stench of him off of me. Maybe B will let me borrow some of her fancy face scrub she loves so much.

"When I saw Buffy for the first time - I just knew she was going to be the thing that set me free. I was just so very wrong about how." He stands back up and grins at me - like he's expecting me to agree with him or something. Not that I can say anything since this nasty cloth is still jammed in my mouth.

"Oh, I'm sorry. How rude of me." He comes closer again, and this time tugs the cloth out of my mouth. "Aren't you glad to know that you set me free?"

"Yeah - it's great. You gonna let me go now?" I'm trying to pretend like I'm not freaking out - assholes like him get off on knowing they're scary as hell. Some guys the fastest way to get free is to give 'em what they want. But for guys like Angel - my only chance is to keep him playing the game.

He steps away, and now I see there's a tray with all kinds of nasty looking tools on it. "I had something else in mind. But don't worry - I will eventually let you go - one piece at a time." He picks up some crazy looking knife with all these jagged points and waves it at me.

I do my best not to react. There is no way that I let this sadistic fuck get any satisfaction out of me.

"You're an impressive woman. I see why Buffy picked you over that whiny loser." He grins at me and drops the scary-ass knife back on the table.

Isn't he the whiny loser? I'm wicked confused - but again - can't let him know that. Gotta let him think I don't care about this sitch at all. Maybe I can convince him that I was just using B all along. I can help him make her pay for turning him down.

It'd be a lot easier to think if he wasn't staring at me like that. It's now I realize that I'm still naked. I've been leered at plenty - but this is the most grossed out I've ever been. "You're not so bad yourself." I try not to throw up as I hope I can trick him into letting me outta here.

"You think so?" He stands up a little straighter. Every guy is a sucker for a complement.

"How about you untie me and let me rock your world?" I give him my best smile and run my tongue over my upper lip. I'm not sure if I want him to take me up on the offer - he's not a bad looking guy - but he's a vampire, and I'm not sure I could keep from throwing up at how bad he smells. I still have no idea how B could ever stand being near him.

He moves towards me again, and even I'm not dumb enough to think that worked. Instead of coming right at me, he walks around behind me. I try to hold still as he brushes my hair away from my neck.

Fuck no! No no no! I feel his teeth sink into my neck. I can't help but struggle now, there's no way I'm going out like this! It woulda been better if I kept my mouth shut. At least if he cut me into pieces to send to B - she'd have some way to find me. I feel his teeth sink in and all I can think is that I hope B knows I didn't leave her. I hope she knows...

* * *

"Fuck." I hiss quietly. My head is pounding, and my mouth is dry as hell. It takes me a few more moments to remember where I am and why I can't move.

Angel's no longer down here with me - so that's a good sign. I don't have any idea how much time has passed. As far as I can tell, I still have all my parts. Though now I see that I'm hooked up to two IVs. One has some clear liquid, and the other is draining my blood.

The door quietly squeaks open, and Angel slinks in. I try to pretend like I'm still out - but I'm pretty sure he's not buying it.

"I just ran into Buffy. You wouldn't believe how upset she is that you just left her like that. But don't worry. I comforted her. I'm going to take care of her."

"What do I care what you do to her?" I'm not sure what he's going for here. Does he really think I'd believe she thought I just left? Or does he have her tied up somewhere too, and he's trying to give me hope of rescue?

He grins at me, and holy shit is that a scary grin. I've met some evil people in my life - but nothing as evil as him.

"I think you care very much. I think you care more than you'd ever admit to yourself or her. Not that you'll get the chance to admit anything to her. Although…" He had been walking towards the table of nasty looking knives, but now he's stopped, and he's just looking at me. "I was going to farm your blood out and then cut you up into tiny pieces - sending each one to Buffy, of course. But maybe that's not quite enough."

That sure sounds like plenty to me. He can't possibly have figured out something worse than that. I try to squeeze my legs together - since that's the only thing that seems worse at the moment. He sees what I was trying to do, and he smirks.

"Don't worry, Faith. There's only one slayer I'm interested in fucking." He smiles wider as he moves closer and leers at me. He's got a dagger in his hand, and he uses it to force my chin up, turning my head from side to side as he looks me over. "Not that you aren't a beautiful girl - I just like my girls a little more pure. A little less tainted."

I want to tell him to go fuck himself, but I'm too relieved that he doesn't wanna touch me. I just gotta stay alive and hope B can find me. There's no way she falls for his bullshit.

The door opens, and Angel doesn't even look in its direction. So he knows wherever we are - no way could B sneak in here. That definitely doesn't make me feel any better about this situation.

"Well, what have we here?" Two new vamps enter the room. The dude walks right up to me, looking me all over. He's grossing me out, but I can tell he's not nearly as twisted up as Angel is.

"Angel has brought us a lovely present, hasn't he?" The woman enters the room, and she's the scariest of the bunch. The insanity is all over her, and I know for sure I gotta figure out how to get on her good side.

It seems like I already failed since she just ran a fingernail down my cheek and held up the bloody claw for the other vamp. He moans disgustingly as he sucks on her finger. I am about two seconds from hurling.

She's been grinning at me the whole time, now she leans forward and licks up where she scratched me. I try hard to hide the fact that I just threw up in my mouth. What is it with vamps and licking faces?

"Yummy." She reaches out to scratch me again, but Angel stops her.

"There's far less gross ways of drinking her blood, Dru." He opens a mini-fridge and pulls out a pouch of blood. "Here's your first payment." He tosses the pouch to Dru, who giggles as she presses the pouch to her cheek.

Now I know these must be the vamps B had to deal with a few weeks ago - Spike and Drusilla. I shoulda been there - but I was too busy being an asshole that I didn't go.

Not gonna lie - I am starting to freak out now. If Angel has this crazy chick helping him - how is B gonna find me? Maybe I should just off myself now. That way, he can't use me against her.

**Buffy**

"How can you be sure that she was taken?" Giles asks once I finished explaining how I need his help to find Faith.

"There are a lot of reasons… but mainly because I'm pretty sure she didn't decide to wander around town completely naked!" Xander drops the juice-box he was sipping on and lets out a small yelp.

"Why was she naked?" Giles asks, completely missing the point.

I was hoping to actually have her with me when we told Giles about our relationship, but I guess that's not going to happen. "Because we fell asleep naked and her clothes were still on the floor when I woke up."

"But…" Giles starts, and Willow lets out a frustrated groan.

"Giles, get there faster," Willow says, and I can't quite tell if she's upset or not. I thought we left things in a good place last night, but maybe I was wrong. Maybe she's just annoyed that I woke everyone up at 6 am.

"Oh. I see… well…" Giles stammers and backs up a step. He takes his glasses off, clearly trying to regain his composure.

"Maybe we can do a tracking spell?" Willow offers, and I finally have a little hope about finding Faith.

"What do you need to do that?"

Willow looks at Giles, and I'm starting to worry again - because he's really looking like he hates the idea of doing a tracking spell.

"Giles, please. I need you to help me find her. I'm almost positive Angel has her, but he wasn't at his apartment, and I have no idea where else to look." I give him my most pathetic puppy dog eyes and silently beg him to cooperate.

"Why would Angel have taken her?" Giles asks - it's like he's trying to piss me off. I thought we already went over this last night when I asked him to take care of my mom.

Rubbing my temples, I try to calm down. "Please. Just help me find her. If I'm wrong and she really did just take off - no harm done." Other than my heart being broken - but that's not the point right now. "But if someone took her - the longer we stand around asking pointless questions - the more they could be hurting her."

Giles looks like he wants to say something else, but instead crosses the room to grab a book. "Do you have anything of hers?"

"I have the clothes she was wearing yesterday." I motion to the bag that I dropped on his desk when I first entered his apartment. "Will that work? I can run back home and get something else."

"That should be fine. The garment may be destroyed with the spell."

She'll be upset to have her shirt ruined, but I definitely don't care about that right now.

I'm pretty sure he's going as slow as humanly possible as he triple and quadruple checks the spell. Just as I'm about to pull my hair out, the map he was casting over starts to glow brightly near the edge of town.

"She's there?"

"Yes, I believe so." I start moving before he can finishing talking. "Buffy - please wait."

"Wait? How can you ask me to wait?"

"I was just going to suggest that we drive over there together. This way, if there is some danger - we will be able to assist you."

"OK, that makes sense. Let's go!" I practically shove everyone out of his apartment and towards his car.

Giles is driving slower than molasses - it is taking all my willpower not to push his foot to the floor. Finally, we get to the area where we saw her signature - but there is nothing here. I hop out of the car before it's fully stopped and search all around for any sign of Faith - but I can't find anything.

"Where is she?!" I scream in frustration, and everyone seems to have the good sense to stay away from me.

"This is a good sign, Buffy. The spell would have told us where she was at that given moment - so this means she was just passing through this area. Nobody is holding her hostage." I'm not at all sure how Giles drew that conclusion - but I know he's wrong. I know she was taken.

There's no way she would have left after last night. I know some of it probably scared the hell out of her - it scared me too - but I know we felt the same things. I know it. Plus - the naked thing - that's also a factor. No way would she have left without her favorite leather pants.

"Can you recast the spell? See where she is right now?"

"I didn't bring the ingredients needed for the spell."

I'm pacing back and forth - getting more and more furious. "Did you at least figure out the dis-invite spell for my mother's house?"

"Yes, that should be a simple matter."

"OK - you can go do that - while I keep looking." He's lucky he actually listened to me, I don't think I can take it - if one more person questions me or tries to convince me that Faith wasn't taken.

"Oh! Can I help?" Willow asks excitedly and follows after him.

"Mind if I hang with you?" Xander asks as Giles and Willow head back towards the car.

"Thank you." I keep searching around, there has to be something.

"There was that mansion we passed not too far back. Maybe we should check that out? I think sometimes buildings like that had weird tunnels… it could be connected to something under here." Xander asks, and I want to hug him.

We get to where I can see the mansion through some bushes. I crawl into the bushes a bit to get a better look. My heart practically stops at what I see. "Xander - I need you to go get Giles and bring him here."

"You think she's in there?"

"I know she is. Tell him Angel, Spike, Dru, and…." Damn it, what was his name? Something about toast… come on, brain… "Kakistos!"

"What?"

"Tell him Kakistos is here, and he is definitely after Faith." I push him in the direction of town and start to get annoyed that he's not already running.

"Shouldn't you go - you can run a lot faster." I know why he really wants me to go, he's knows exactly what I'm planning on doing.

"I have to try and distract them - come on, Xander. Please just go." I'm starting to lose my patience with him.

"I can't let you go in..." I've got him up in the air by his shirt before he can even finish his idiotic statement.

"No - you can't stop me from going in there. And if you try - you won't be able to go get Giles." I lower him back to the ground and push him a little. "Please go."

I duck back under the hedges to work my way to the front of the mansion. I didn't look back to see if he listened - it doesn't matter now.

Time to see if acting is one of those special slayer skills.

I make as much noise as I can as I walk up to the front door. I saw them through some large windows around the side, and I tried to make it seem like there's no way I came from the side. My only chance is that I can reason with Angel before everyone else joins the party.

As I get closer to the door, I start rubbing at my eyes and face. Hoping to make it look like I was crying. I know Angel is upset that I didn't pick him, but I seem to remember him caring about me. And no guy can resist a crying girl.

I knock a few times loudly and step back from the door, making sure to stay in the sun without it being too obvious.

When he finally opens up the door, I really turn up my crying.

"Oh, Angel! I'm so sorry! Can you ever forgive me?" I'm really hamming it up - I'm not sure I've ever tried this hard to sound upset.

He stands in the doorway like he can't quite decide what to do. "What's wrong, Buff?"

OK - so apparently this guy can resist a crying girl. He looks totally unimpressed by my acting. I can't give up yet, though. "She left me! After everything - she just left. I should have picked you - I'm so sorry." I was trying to keep my face mostly covered with my hands to keep the illusion of crying - but I can tell that wasn't worth the effort.

"I think maybe you just bore her. A girl like Faith - needs a challenge. You gave yourself up way too easily. It was a good trick making her wait for you to decide - but you're an idiot if you think you could tame a wild one like her."

OK - Ouch. There's no reason to be nasty. But I have to stick with pretending to be hurt - I have to let him think I believe him. "You're totally right. I should have known better."

He just grins and nods. "Are you done with this fake crying nonsense? Gotta tell you - it's kinda giving me a headache. Plus, I have guests I need to attend to."

I was really hoping I could reason with him - I don't understand how he changed so much. I can't believe this had anything to do with me, but what else could have changed him so quickly? "Angel, please. I know I hurt you… but you can't do this. Please let her go."

He starts laughing hysterically, like bending over - holding his stomach - laughing. "Oh, sweetheart - you didn't hurt me. You could never hurt me."

I was worried before - but still confident. Spike, Dru, and even that nasty toast vampire made me nervous - but now I'm actually scared.

I don't know if I can save her.


	4. Chapter 4

**Buffy**

He's smirking at me - like he knows that I just figured out how terrified I am. That's no good. He's a vampire - and I'm a vampire slayer.

There's no way he wins this.

As Faith likes to say - slayer + vampire = dead vampire. I am not letting this vampire take anything from me.

"Are you sure about that? I could never hurt you?" I lean forward a little, making sure he knows I'm not afraid of him.

His smirk falters for a second - but that's all I need to know that I've won. I take a step closer. Close enough that he could grab me and pull me in if he wanted to.

"I promise you - if she is not whole when I get her back - I will make you hurt for all of eternity."

He tries to pretend like he's not worried, but I saw him lean back instead of forward. He knows he's going to lose. He knows I mean what I said and that I can deliver on every bit of it.

"I'll be seeing you." I turn and move calmly away from the door. I pick up speed once I hear the door close behind me. I have to get to Giles. He has to have some idea of what to do.

My mom is safely at home and tells me Giles left just a few minutes ago after performing the dis-invite spell. I don't bother changing as I run to school - I'm already late - but I don't care about that. I need to tell Giles what happened. I need him to tell me how to fix this.

* * *

"What do you mean you don't think I should try to save her?" I am very barely holding back from beating the hell out of him. Only the belief that he's the only one who can help me is stopping me.

"Buffy." He looks down at me like I'm an out of control child. "It's far too dangerous. The vampire Kakistos alone is more than you can manage on your own."

"More than…" I close my eyes shake my head a little, trying to clear the nightmare I'm currently living in. Obviously, this is some kind of dream. When I open my eyes again, I'll wake up with Faith next to me, and I'll know that my watcher didn't just tell me to let Faith die.

I am very disappointed when I open them, and he's still standing there. I get into his personal space. "Listen to me very carefully. If you do not help me - when this is over, you will need to find a new slayer to watch."

"Buffy, please try to think about this rationally."

"Rationally!" I shove him against the wall. "What can possibly be rational about just letting Faith die?"

"Faith is a slayer. She can take care of herself, and if she can't, then another slayer will be called." He says it so calmly and matter-of-factly that I can hardly believe it.

I roar at him and punch my hand through the wall right next to his head. "We are done. I will go take care of Angel and save Faith myself."

"Angel?" Ms. Calendar is suddenly standing right behind me. The look of pure terror on her face is the only reason why I'm not already out of the library and on my way to kill everyone between Faith and me.

"Do you know something about Angel?" Giles grabs my shoulder to try and keep me from stalking closer to the terrified computer teacher. I pull his hand off of my shoulder and squeeze until I hear bones crack. "I'm pretty sure I told you that we were done."

He has the good sense to look afraid. I'm not sure how it took this long, but I think he finally sees how serious I am about this.

"Tell me what you know about Angel." I turn back to Ms. Calendar, trying to stay calm and reasonable.

"How did you do that?" She's far too focused on Giles. I need her to be focused on me.

"Look - I don't have time for this. Faith and I are slayers - Angel has her along with Spike, Drusilla, and Kakistos. If you know something that can help me - talk now. Otherwise - I have to go."

She looks at me and nods. Finally, someone is being reasonable. She's taking far too long - but at least she is going to help me.

"The only place you are going, little lady - is class." Where the hell did Principal Snyder come from? I don't have time for any of this.

I look at Ms. Calendar one more time, but her mouth is just hanging open. She might know something, but I don't have time to wait for her to say it. I leave her standing there and walk out of the library - Snyder is right next to me. I don't even know what class I have right now, but I know he's not going to leave me alone until I get to it.

Snyder apparently knows which class I'm supposed to be in - he guides me right to the door and much to my horror - follows me into the classroom. I could get away from him, and he can't really stop me. But he'll for sure call the police, and that will definitely make it impossible for me to rescue Faith.

I cannot believe this is happening. Snyder followed me around for the entire rest of the day. He even followed me into the bathroom - which I'm pretty sure is illegal. Then when I get home - my mother and her new boyfriend are waiting for me. They decide it's a good idea to yell at me for the next three hours. I can't hear any of what they are saying. All I can think about is what must be happening to Faith right now.

I even told her in a very roundabout way that Faith was in trouble. Any time it seemed like she was going to let me go - her jerk of a boyfriend interrupted and started with the chastising again. I don't know what I'm supposed to do. All I can do is hope that I scared Angel enough that he doesn't kill her. If I don't get there in time to save her - I'll never forgive myself - or any of the people who stood in my way.

After an eternity, I'm finally excused to my room - I pull out my weapon's chest and load up. I'm out the window in 30 seconds flat. As soon as I land - I come face to face with Spike, and suddenly things are looking up.

**Faith - Earlier**

Finally, they left me alone with Spike. Now, if I can just get my head to stop pounding, maybe I can work my magic on him.

"So, you're Spike?" I ask, and he instantly perks up.

"Heard of me?" He grins at me, and I know exactly how to play him.

"Yeah - heard you were a bad-ass vamp in your day."

"What do you mean in _my day_?" He takes a step towards me, and I try not to grin at how easy it's gonna be to get him to do what I want.

"Well - I mean when Angel wasn't running things. You and Dru used to tear shit up. Right? Even bagged yourself a slayer?" God, it sucks trying to chat up a vamp like this.

"Two slayers actually," he smiles. It's pretty obvious how impressed he is with himself.

"Couldn't get B though - could ya?" I can't help but brag about B a little. She's my girl and a total bad-ass.

"Don't you worry - I will." He grins at me, and I try to show that I'm worried that he might hurt her. I'm not really - he may talk a good game - but he's no match for B, and I'm sure he knows it. I just gotta trick him into seeing that he's only got one way out of this.

"No doubt." I nod and try to show that I'm impressed. That's a lot harder to do when I can barely fucking move. But I still think it's working. "Maybe Dru will even come back to you if you can take B out."

That set him off, he's right up in my face. "What do you mean, come back to me!? She's still mine!"

"My bad, man. I just figured since Angel is in charge - you know how chicks are. They go where the power is." I shrug again. I try not to let it be too obvious that I'm trying hard not to laugh. "Plus, he hooked her up with my blood - that cured her or whatever, right? She basically owes him everything. I'm sure she'll come running back to you once he's done with her."

I can see his jaw clenching, as he's getting more and more pissed off. "Angel and Dru are not…"

I make a big show about how sad I am. "Hey - don't feel bad. He stole my girl too." I can feel his eyes on me, and I hope I can keep this going. It is getting really hard not to laugh.

"Just sucks - ya know? I really thought we had something special. Shoulda known better. I maybe had a chance when Angel was pretending to be all nice - I can't really compete with him now that he's letting loose though." I take a deep breath and try to make myself cry. It's not really working - since I don't believe a word of this shit.

Plus I'm not exactly the crying type. That's more B's style.

Then I hear something I definitely never wanted to hear again. How the fuck did he find me? I thought I was so careful. There's no chance of me talking my way out of this one. Even if I did manage to get Spike on my side - that doesn't matter anymore either.

I'm dead, and so is B.

And it's all my fucking fault.

**Buffy**

Spike better not have been lying to me. I said I'd give him a 15-minute head start to deal with Angel and Kakistos and clear out with Dru.

Approaching from the side, I don't see anyone moving around in there - that's a good sign. I'm close enough that I can see pretty clearly now - Angel is passed out, and I don't see anyone else.

It looks like Spike forgot to open this patio door, though. I force the lock and wait for a second to see if anyone heard me. Still no movement - I think I'm good.

Angel looks totally out cold - I kick him in the ribs just to make sure. Now I need to restrain him. If Faith isn't here or she's hurt - I'm going to need him alive enough to answer questions.

I find some chains and wrap them around him as tightly as I can. I don't think he can move, we won't know until he wakes up.

Now I just need to find Faith if she is hurt - "Aagh." OK, less inner-monologuing, and more being aware of my surroundings. I try to claw at whatever it is that's wrapped around my neck and holding me up in the air. I'm pretty sure it's that giant vamp Faith warned me about.

How is he holding me with a hoof!? That is not how hooves are supposed to work. I'm not getting anywhere, and things are starting to go dark. "A-ha!" I manage to get my cross out of my shirt and hold it against his hand - paw? Hoof? Whatever - it seemed to do the trick.

I'm on the ground and spinning around to face him. He's roaring in pain and stumbling around. I guess whatever Spike used to drug them wasn't quite enough to keep him knocked out.

Faith told me she couldn't stake him, so I know this isn't going to be easy. Pretty sure my normal stake isn't going to work. I see a sword on the other side of the room and make a move towards it. He lumbers after me, but I get to it first. I do a combat roll to the side as he lunges for me. I end up behind him, and I have an opening. I slice across his back, and he howls - spinning around and flailing his arms. I duck under and stab out at his gut.

Now he's bent over - clutching his stomach and finally I can reach his head. Swinging with everything I have, I get a nice clean hit on his neck, and his head rolls away from his body. It takes a few seconds, and all that's left is dust.

"More than I can handle. Bah!" Screw Giles - I can't believe he said that to me. I don't know what the hell I'm going to do after this. How can I trust him when I know he doesn't care about Faith or me?

First, I have to get to her - I check on Angel, and he's still out cold. For good measure, I bash the sword hilt into his head.

Time to go find Faith.

Spike told me where she'd be. I really hope she's there. I carefully go down the steps and creep along the hallway. I can't hear anything, which isn't as comforting as it should be.

She's in the second room on the right, just like Spike said.

"Faith?" I move to her side and start working on her bindings. They went overboard with the rope, and her skin is red and welted from where it was biting in.

"Oh, fuck." She's free now, but she's still not moving. And there is a metal rod stabbed into her thigh and through the chair. Why would anyone do this? Of course, I know why - she told me all about Kakistos and how evil he was. I know she didn't even tell me everything, the look on her face was more than enough information.

I should do this while she's still out.

I take a firm grip on the rod with one hand and her thigh with the other. "I'm so sorry," I say just before I pull as quickly as I can. The rod luckily slides out, and by some miracle, she's only bleeding a little. She's still not awake, though.

Now that the rod is out, I see the rest of her injuries - there are too many to count. I wish I had left Kakistos alive too. He got off way too easy.

I should have thought to bring a first aid kit or something. She is covered in blood and grime, and I don't even know how bad it is under all this.

They left behind some saline bags - that will have to do. I break one open and start trying to clean her up as best as I can with my shirt. I'm mostly just spreading her blood around. This is never going to work.

"Please wake up. I need you to wake up." I try something else. I carefully move her, so we're sitting on the floor together - holding her to me and whispering to her. It seems to be doing something. Her breathing is less shallow, and her heartbeat is getting stronger.

She starts making groaning noises, which even though they are freaking me out, it at least gives me hope that she's going to wake up.

"B?"

"I'm here, I've got you."

"We gotta get out of here - he's..."

"We're safe. Kakistos is dust, and Angel is out of commission."

"You... Kakistos?"

I smile at the shock in her face. I'd be hurt that she doubted me, but she actually sounds kinda proud. "Spike helped - drugged him or something. Even so... I barely got him." She relaxes against me again. "Whenever you're ready - we'll go finish Angel off and then get you to a hospital."

"No!" She tries to pull away but isn't quite strong enough.

"It's OK. No hospital. I promise. We'll just go home. How does that sound?"

It takes her a few more minutes to calm down, but finally, she does. "Spike helped you?"

"He did. He really doesn't seem like Angel for some reason."

She laughs until she starts to cough. "Knew I could get to him."

"You did that?" She nods, and I press a kiss to her temple. "I thought I lost you."

She leans into me again and squeezes just a little.

"Think you're ready to try and get out of here?"

She sucks in a breath and tries to stand, I'm right by her side, and we seem to get up OK.

"I should have thought to bring you clothes." I frown as I try to imagine how I'm going to get her back home without anyone seeing us. "Though I guess you're dirty enough that it's not obvious that you're naked."

For some reason, that makes her laugh again.

"Let's get out of here, B."

When we get upstairs, the scene is not what I was expecting. I see Angel is still chained against the wall, and the Scoobies are all standing around. They're arguing about something. I'm not sure what.

I push Faith a little behind me, I don't want them looking at her, and I don't want them pretending like they give a shit that she's alive. Especially not Giles.

"What are you guys doing here!?" I'm asking everybody - but I'm staring at Giles. He has the good sense not to meet my eyes.

"We did it!" Willow comes running up to me. "We put Angel's soul back!"

"You did what? What are you talking about?"

"Oh - we tried to call you but you didn't answer. Ms. Calendar knew things about Angel. Apparently, he lost his soul, but we were able to put it back!" Willow was bouncing with glee, and I don't have the heart to tell her that I don't care even a little about Angel's soul. "Hi, Faith." She loses her smile as soon as she sees Faith's condition.

"Can someone do something useful and find some clothes for Faith? Angel must have something lying around." Willow and Xander start searching, and all I can do is stare at Giles. How dare he do this? How dare he stand there and pretend like any of this is OK?

"Buffy... I..."

"No!" I would move closer to him, but I don't want to leave Faith's side. Right now, she's leaning against me like she's trying to hide - but really, I know it's because she can barely stand.

"Please, Buffy..."

"Pretty sure I said all I want to say to you. Please get out of my face before something you really aren't going to like happens."

He opens his mouth, but thinks better of it, and he backs away.

"What was that all about?" Faith whispers to me.

"We can talk about it later." It breaks my heart to have to tell her what Giles said. She's never had anyone who cared about her before, and I know she thought Giles cared about her. I'll have to find some way to fix this for her sake, even if I can't stand the sight of him.

Willow and Xander return with a button-up shirt. It's long enough to cover her - so it will have to do.

"Come on, Giles has his car. He can give her a ride to the hospital." Xander says and moves to Faith's side - like he's going to help carry her.

"No," I firmly shake my head before Faith has to speak up. "We just need to get home." I tug her protectively to my side. Xander looks a little hurt that I won't let him help, but I don't care. I know Faith doesn't even want me helping her - no way does she want anyone else to.

Giles looks like he wants to argue, but luckily he doesn't say a word.

"Are we just going to leave Angel tied up?" Willow asks, and I try not to have a fit. I don't understand why she seems to care so much about him lately.

"Actually, I have a better idea." I make sure Faith can stand on her own for a moment, and I break the top off of a giant candle holder. Before anyone can even begin to guess what I'm about to do - I drive it through his leg and into the stone floor. Whoever did this to Faith - they were careful to avoid the bone - I was no where near that nice. "When Faith is better - we'll come back and deal with him."

I look at the shock in everyone's faces - just waiting for them to question me. Faith is clearly biting back laughter as I return to her side and start the trek to Giles' car.

The drive is very awkward silence back to my house - but I don't care. Tomorrow I'll come up with some way to explain this, so they don't think that I'm insane. For now, all I care about is getting Faith safely home and cleaned up.

I get her out of the car and up to the door in silence. The door opens before I can try to unlock it.

My mother and her new boyfriend are standing there with their arms crossed.

"Hi, mom." I smile and try to pretend like I'm not covered in gore with a very damaged Faith clinging to my side. The look on her face is telling me that this night is about to get even worse.


	5. Chapter 5

**Buffy**

Why is this happening? How did we survive this day - only to be stuck standing here in front of my mother and her idiot boyfriend?

"Where have you been? We were so worried about you?"

"I told you, mom - I had to save Faith."

"Save. You're so dramatic." My mom rolls her eyes at me - like I'm twelve or maybe insane.

"Dramatic? Can you not see her standing here - covered in blood?"

"Costumes. You take your little slayer club far too seriously." OK - so she's the one who is insane.

"Slayer club? What are you talking about? It's not a club. It's real! Vampires are real!" I do not have the time nor the energy to argue with her or her inability to deal right now.

"How dare you speak to your mother that way."

OK, ow. This guy who's name I'm sure someone told me - just backhanded me across the face. "That actually hurt." I wiped at my lip, and there was blood.

"Oh, Ted. You shouldn't…" I hear my mom start to say, and at the same time, I turn to see Giles coming towards us, and I catch something else out of the corner of my eye. When I turn back to my mother, I see that Faith has grabbed Ted's arm - stopping him from hitting my mother.

She's grunting with the effort of holding him back, and now I know something is very not right. I shove him away from everyone, lean Faith up against the door, and launch myself at Ted.

I don't even know what's happening - all I know is that this guy - who clearly can't be human - tried to hit my mother. And even though she's firmly living in the land of denial - I'm still not letting anyone get away with trying to hurt her.

I punch him in the face and pause a moment to see how he'll react. My hit barely phased him, and he's quick to try and punch me back. He actually almost manages to hit me - so now I know for sure that I don't have to hold back.

I still have no idea what he is, but he's definitely tough. I lash out with all my strength, punching him in the chest and stomach three times before he can even tell that I moved. It finally seems to be doing something, he's looking very confused, and he tries to grab me. His lunge is slow, and I duck under it. Shoving him from behind, he was off balance and crashes into the wall.

He turns back quicker than I expected, guess I can't let up. Time to let out all my frustrations about this day. I kinda wish I had thought to hold on to that sword right about now. Oh well, I'll have to make do with what I've got. Launching a flurry of punches into his body, he tries to block my attack - but he's too slow. Wherever he's blocking, I'm hitting somewhere else.

This full-on attack is working, he's finally wearing down. He drops to his knees, and his hands fall limply to his side. If this was anyone else on any other day - I might stop. Instead, I keep hitting him until he stops moving and falls face-first to the floor. Then I kick him in the ribs a few more times just to be sure he's really out.

"Buffy." I hear Giles call softly to me, and I do my best to come back down to reality. I turn to look at him, just waiting for him to give me a reason. "I failed you today - let me help you now."

My mother is standing against the wall, looking very confused. Willow and Xander are helping Faith stay upright - even though I can tell she doesn't want them to.

"Fine." I don't even look back at Ted, I get to Faith and carefully walk her up the stairs.

Finally, we're up in the bathroom, and I feel like I can breathe again.

"B?"

I look over at her, and I can guess what she's going to say. "Do you mind if I stay up here with you? You're kind of the only person I can stand right now."

"Uh, sure." She frowns a little, and I try to ignore that, along with the fact that she's trying to unbutton her shirt with fingers that don't work. Running out of patience, I go over to her and just rip it open. It's not like I planned on giving Angel his shirt back.

I quickly turn away and dig under the cabinet for the first aid kit.

"B?" She says my name again that same sad way. I swear to god I am going to lose it if she tells me to leave.

"Yeah?" I pretend like the first aid kit is not already in my hand.

I feel her getting closer to me, and I tense up. "What happened to your neck?"

I look at myself in the mirror and scowl. "Damn it." I'm going to have to wear a scarf for the next few days.

"Who did that to you?" She's closer now, gently running her fingers over the giant purple bruise covering my neck.

"Kakistos."

She frowns but miraculously doesn't back away. "What's this?"

I look down at my side. Apparently, I got stabbed somewhere along the way. I don't even remember it, and I can barely feel it now. "Not a good day to be a slayer, I guess." I pull my shirt off and try to get a better look, she pushes my hand away and reaches for the first aid kit.

I almost laugh at the absurdity of her trying to clean up my tiny scratch when she's covered in wounds. But I see how focused she is, so I let her carefully wipe away the blood with an intense look of concentration on her face. I stop her before she can cover it with a bandage.

"Let's get cleaned up first."

She nods and hobbles back a step or two. I get the shower started and work the rest of my clothes off. I turn to face her, and she's just standing there, slightly swaying. Even though she's still covered in grime, the light of the bathroom is letting me see more of what happened to her.

I close my eyes for a second and try not to imagine everything that happened to her today - because of me. I haven't let my mind register everything it's seen in the past few hours. Every type of wound imaginable to every part of her body. Burns, cuts, scrapes, and bruises of every flavor. Her fingers were twisted horribly in the wrong direction. I think I blocked out what it felt like to carefully move them back into place while she was still out.

Through all of this - she's hasn't given any indication of how much pain she must be in. As I look at her standing there, I can't help but draw some conclusions to how that can be.

I guide her into the shower, helping her lift her very damaged leg over the edge of the tub.

Finally, we're both inside, and I maneuver her under the warm spray. It seems to bring her back to life, and she starts moving in a very disorganized way to clean all the blood and grime off of herself.

Color is returning to her cheeks, and she's moving around a lot better. I can't help myself, and I move closer, pulling her a little out of the spray. She looks confused for a second, and then she smiles at me. We share a perfect gentle kiss, and I'm reminded of how amazing the previous night was. It's hard to believe that was only last night. I feel like a lifetime has gone by, but it's barely been 24 hrs.

I pull back and give her room to finish cleaning up. When she's done, I quickly rinse myself off. I wasn't nearly as dirty as she is, and I don't want to make her have to stand there any longer than necessary. I turn off the water, and she starts to climb out of the shower.

"Hold on. Can you sit here for a bit?" I motion to the edge of the tub.

She doesn't look like she wants to, but she doesn't have the energy to argue.

"I'm just going to bandage your leg." It's the only wound that's still open. It seems like they were careful not to make her bleed too much. And now, I realize that the little mini-fridge was probably used to store her blood. I am going to hurt Angel in so many ways.

I hand her a towel and dry myself off as quickly as possible. I grab the first aid kit and get to work on her thigh. It looks almost like her leg exploded, I have no idea how she's been walking around on this thing all this time. I also have no idea how she's not screaming right now - or at least unconscious.

I don't bother warning her about how much it's going to hurt as I pour the alcohol over the top and bottom wounds. I don't think we can get infections, but this just looks so terrible. I feel like I need to do something.

I wrap a bandage all the way around her thigh and help her to stand. Together we get her t-shirt on and some loose shorts. I quickly get dressed as well and help her to her room and into bed. I don't want to leave her - but I think she could probably use some food, and I should also check on things downstairs. "I'll be right back. Do you need anything?"

She shakes her head and kind of rolls away. "You don't need to come back. You gotta be wiped."

"Oh - I was going to stay in here with you if that's OK? Now that I can smell Angel - not sure I can stand to be in my room until we can do something about that." While that is true - I also can't stand the thought of leaving her alone, at least not until she's healed.

"Don't need a babysitter."

"Well - that's fine - since I don't intend on babysitting you."

She just kind of huffs and presses her face into the pillow.

I am not accepting this. I'm not going to let her push me away without a fight. "Are you mad at me for not getting to you sooner? For even bringing Angel into your life?"

That gets her to turn towards me, "what are you talking about?"

"I understand that maybe you hate me right now." I frown when she doesn't try to deny it. "I just hope you give me a chance to try to make this up to you."

She scowls but doesn't say anything.

"I'll be back in a few minutes." I really hope she's still there when I get back.

**Faith**

OK, what just happened? She thinks I'm mad at her? How can she possibly think that? What the hell am I going to do?

So fucking tired. I just want to sleep for a week. Can't though - gotta figure out how to fix this. Gotta make sure I don't lose B. Not after all this.

I may be an idiot - but I'm not stupid.

I know I'm wicked lucky that she picked me - even after the hell of today I wouldn't trade it for anything.

I know she sees something in me - and I gotta do everything I can to be what she thinks I am.

If she thinks I'm mad - all I gotta do is show her that I'm not. That shouldn't be too hard - assuming I don't pass out before she gets back.

It seems like I've been waiting forever for her to come back, but finally, the door slowly opens, and she peeks her head in like she thinks I might be asleep.

She looks kinda scared - like she's waiting for me to yell at her. I wasn't planning on yelling at her - definitely not now that I see what she's carrying.

She's got a tray piled high with sandwiches and cookies. Plus a 2-liter bottle of soda. I sit up quickly and pat the space next to me. She puts the tray where I patted and goes to move away, but I grab her hand. "Sit."

She sits on the edge of the bed, and I roll my eyes. "If you're going to yell at me - could you just… I don't know… not?" She says, and I start laughing, and now she looks pissed off - which is not what I'm going for. So I try my best to stop.

"I'm not gonna yell - just sit next to me."

She doesn't look like she believes me, but I just smile at her, and she slides in next to me, holding the tray in her lap.

I grab for a cookie, and she smacks my hand. "Hey!"

"Oh, god - I'm sorry." And she looks like she's gonna lose it.

"Don't worry about it." I try for the cookie again, and she grabs my wrist. "Don't make me take back my promise not to yell at you."

"The cookies are drugged - I just wanted to warn you first."

"You brought me drugged cookies? You planning on poisoning me if I yelled at you?" I slowly reach for a sandwich instead and she lets me. She looks a little grossed out when I basically cram the whole thing into my mouth - but I just shrug. "I haven't eaten all day!"

"What?" She asks while trying not to laugh.

I actually swallow the food in my mouth before trying to talk this time. "I haven't eaten all day," I say again and take another sandwich. Taking normal-sized bites and chewing, I'm definitely not trying to gross her out.

"The cookies aren't poison. They just… I guess that guy was using them to keep my mom happy - so I thought they might also make you feel better. If you were in pain or something." She looks crazy embarrassed by that idea, and I can't help but smile. "Sorry, I guess that's dumb." She goes like she's going to move the cookies further away, but I stop her.

"First - you gotta stop apologizing to me."

"Sorry…" Then she laughs a little. "I'll try."

"Second - how happy are we taking? Like drooling on ourselves happy… or like…" I roll towards her a little and run my hand up her thigh.

"... the second kind, I think." She barely manages to get the words out. Just as my fingers are almost where I want them - she grabs my hand and squeezes.

I pull my hand away as fast as I can - pretty sure she didn't need to squeeze that hard. Guess I read this sitch all kinds of wrong. What else is new?

I slide away from her and swing my legs to the floor. This is gonna suck so fucking bad - but no less than spending another minute with someone who doesn't want me.

"You're leaving?" She sounds so hurt it makes me wonder what the hell is going on.

"Don't you want me to?"

"What? No - of course not. That's the last thing I want."

"Then why…" I look down at my hand.

"Oh, no!" She's up and pushing me back to laying down. "I really didn't mean to do that. I am such a… I'm so sorry! I remembered how hurt your hands were - so I thought you shouldn't..."

Now I'm laughing again, and she looks at me like I'm insane - which hey - probably am—more than a little.

"How are you so…" She waves her hand at me like I'm supposed to know what the hell that means, but I guess I kinda do.

"Sit." I pat the space next to me, and she sits down again. "Wait, the other side." She rolls her eyes at me, but she does move around to my slightly less stabbed side. I hold my arm out, and I know she wants to say something, but she doesn't.

B is lying against me with my arm wrapped around her, and I hope she gets it. I hope I don't have to explain. Cause if I have to tell her how that wasn't even my worst day - I don't think I can take it. I don't think I can stand for her to look at me like I'm broken.

Her head is on my shoulder, and her hand is resting on my stomach. I feel like she's about to say something, and then suddenly I feel like everything is about to crash in on me.

She saw me.

For the first time - she saw me fully naked with the lights on. I was too out of it to even realize. No wonder why she doesn't want me to touch her.

Can't believe she's even letting me hold her right now.

"What do you want to do with Angel?"

"What?" Why the fuck is she asking me about Angel right now? I gotta get out of here. "Don't care. Do whatever."

"How can you say that?" I'm trying to get away, but she won't let me get up. I'm too weak to fight her off. "What are you doing?"

"Leaving." I try to push her away, but it's not working. I'm so fucking weak right now - I hate this.

She changes positions entirely, straddling me - but not putting any weight on my legs. "Stop. I'm sorry I asked about Angel - you don't have to worry about him. I'll take care of it."

"I don't give a fuck about Angel." I again try to push her, but I'm just too tired.

"OK, then why are you trying to leave?"

"Because I want to. I need another reason?"

"Yes - right now, you do. If you want me to let you up - you need the best reason ever."

Is she really gonna make me say this shit out loud? "Fuck you - just let me go!"

"Not a chance." She crosses her arms over her chest and sits back a little. I am too tired for this.

"Whatever." I slide down a little and look away from her.

"Please, Faith. Tell me what just happened to make you want to leave?"

"Nothing happened."

She sighs and finally gets off of me. I'd try to get up, but I know I couldn't beat her to the door anyway.

"Giles was telling me about this weird thing a few weeks ago. Kit or cat something... ugi? No, that's not right." Then she looks at me. "Do you know what I'm talking about?"

"Do I know what the thing is that you can't even remember how to say is?" She grins and nods at me. "No, B. I don't have a fucking clue." She just keeps looking at me with a little smile on her face. I don't know what the hell she's trying to say - but I hope she gets to the point sometime soon.

"I was training in the library and maybe hit him a little too hard and he crashed into his desk. You'd really think he'd be better at absorbing my hits by now. You know?"

I just glare at her and hope she takes the hint that I'm not in the mood for whatever this is. If she's gonna dump me - she should just get it over with already.

"Well, when he hit the desk the fancy teacup that he always uses fell, and it broke. I felt pretty bad - even though I don't think it was really my fault." I just keep glaring at her, even though it doesn't seem to be making a difference with how slow she's telling this fucking story.

"Anyway, he told me not to worry about it - that he'd be able to fix it. Then he started telling me about this Japanese kitsu-something."

I am starting to get a little frustrated now. "Are we almost to the point of this stroll down boring-as-shit lane?"

She smiles and sits down on the edge of the bed, I want to pull away from her - but at the same time, I don't ever want her to leave. I cross my arms over my chest and just stare at her.

"Almost to the point." She says and runs the back of her fingertips over my cheek.

How the hell am I supposed to stay mad when she does that? I drop my arms and try to relax.

"He was saying how there is some Japanese thing where when something breaks - instead of throwing it out, they use gold to repair the damage. And then that new thing is considered more beautiful - because it went through something and came out stronger on the other side."

I frown as I try to make sense of what she's saying. I watch her, and she's touching the massive scar on her neck from the master and running her fingers over other areas where I now realize she has scars.

"I mean, I don't know if it really means anything or not. But I like the idea that maybe something being broken - it doesn't mean it should be thrown out. It still has value." She wipes at her eyes, and I try to pretend like I'm not doing the same. "To the right person - even something that has been broken a lot - it can still be beautiful - it can still bring happiness."

There's no way she's saying what I think she's saying.

"Faith?"

I force myself to look at her. I'm surprised when she's got a cookie in her mouth and is holding out another to me. She grins when I take it and slides back in next to me, even lifting my arm, so she's leaning against me again.

I don't know what to think of what she was saying. I'm not some stupid teacup and the shit that happened to me can't be fixed.

I think I get her point, though. As fucked up as me life had been. I'm still here.

And she still wants me. That's all that matters.

"So, what was Ted's deal?" I ask after I finished my cookie and washed it down with some soda.

"Ted?"

This girl cracks me up. "Yeah - you know - the dude you beat probably to death like 20 minutes ago?"

"Oh - I don't know. He was gone when I got down there."

"How did you know about the cookies then?"

"Mom explained. She was very confused about everything. But she said he was gone and gave me the cookies as a peace offering, I guess."

"She still think vamps aren't real?"

"I don't know. I didn't want to get into it. I figured as long as she's not giving us a hard time. We can deal with whatever later."

"Maybe we should start a slayer club. Could be fun, ya know? Xander can be our mascot, Red can build us a website. Oh and if you didn't kill Ted - maybe he can make more of these cookies for us to sell."

She giggles a little and squeezes me. "What are we going to do with the proceeds from selling the cookies?"

"Dunno, whatever we want." She laughs again, and I'm starting to think I might not be as terrible at this relationship shit as I thought I'd be.

"How many of these do you think we should eat?" She reaches for another one. "You know - slayer metabolism - I figure we need to eat more than everyone else."

I laugh and stop her from eating the second cookie. "Slayer or not - it's always a good idea to wait a bit after the first one."

"One and a half?" She hands me half the second one, and I'm not about to argue. "You must be tired." She says, and I know she's hoping I'll say no.

I was almost passed out an hour ago - but now I'm wide awake. With B pressed into my side and her fingers tracing the edge of my t-shirt - tired is the last thing I am.

I answer her by pulling my shirt over my head and rolling her on top of me. Whatever was in that cookie must be kicking in - because I am feeling no pain at all.

Especially not when B is hovering over me and smiling. I don't even need drugs if B is smiling at me. She looks like she's feeling pretty good too, her eyes are kinda glazed over, and she's not stopping me as I pull off her shirt.

I try to move my hand between us, but she stops me.

"Your hands." She warns before she gently pins my arms to the bed.

"My hands are fine," I argue and try to get at her again, but she won't let me up.

"You're hands are not fine." Then gives me a wicked smirk. "Pretty sure your mouth is OK, though."

I think I might love this girl.


	6. Chapter 6

**Buffy**

I've been watching Faith sleep for twenty minutes now. I'm sitting up a little, and her head is resting on my stomach with her arm wrapped around me. I don't know what's going to happen when she wakes up, so I'm trying to enjoy this as much as I can.

Her breathing is changing, and I think she's starting to wake up.

She opens her eyes, and it seems to take her a moment to figure out where she is, but when she does, she smiles up at me and does a full-body stretch.

"Good morning." She says that, and I let out my breath.

She's happy that I'm still here.

"Good morning." I lean in and give her the best good morning kiss ever.

"OK - so great morning." She says and pulls me back down to her. We kiss again, and she tries to roll on top of me. Her hiss of pain pulls me back into reality.

"Let me look at your leg?"

She sighs but relents. Rolling onto her back, she watches me as I peel off the old bandage. It doesn't look infected, not that I'm sure I'd know. But it doesn't seem to be oozing or anything, I think that's good. "I'll go get a fresh bandage."

She shakes her head and stops me from leaving the bed. "We can just work around it for now."

Then she's kissing me and pulling me back down to her. I don't really want to resist her kisses, so I don't even bother trying. It doesn't take long until I feel her fingers pressing into me, and that extremely good feeling starts to build up.

Just as I feel like I'm going to lose my mind from how good she's making me feel - there's a knock at the door.

"Girls - I made breakfast. Whenever you're ready to come down - We have a lot to talk about." My mom calls through the door, and the mood is very effectively killed.

"Damn." I roll away and drape an arm over my face. That is not something I ever want to have happen again.

"Hey - at least my fingers are all better." I look over to see Faith flexing her fingers, and I start to laugh. She grins back at me and sits up on the bed. It looks like she's trying to find the strength to stand. "Whatever she wants - we'll figure it out."

I sit next to her and rest my head on her shoulder, wrapping my arms around her waist. "Yeah, we will." I squeeze her and press a kiss to her cheek.

That's clearly not good enough, and she turns, pulling me into yet another amazing good morning kiss. "Mmm." Whatever happens - I need to be able to do this every day. Just the thought of not waking up next to her makes me very unhappy.

"Maybe we should just run away together."

She looks like she really doesn't like that idea.

"Or… not." I say as I stand up and offer her hand. She shakes her head.

"Nah, B. I know you might have to deal with some shit from your ma… but… just…" Then she shakes her head again.

"I really was just kidding. As much as I love the idea of running away and not having to follow any rules - I know that I don't really want to leave."

She nods and finally accepts my help to stand. I want to say so much more - but I'm more than a little worried that I'll say something stupid and she'll try to leave again. There is just so much I don't know about her. I want to know everything - but I don't know that she'll ever want to tell me.

We shower and get dressed. I have to borrow more of her clothes - since mine still smell like Angel. That's something we need to figure out soon. I don't need Cordelia giving me a hard time about my change in fashion sense when I get back to school on Monday. Faith always looks good - but her style is definitely a choice.

When we get downstairs, there's a massive stack of pancakes and piles of bacon. Faith's stomach starts to growl at the sight, and I try not to laugh.

"Good morning, girls. Did you sleep well?"

"We did," I say as we sit down at the counter. "Are you trying to feed an army?"

"No - just a Faith." She winks at Faith, and Faith chuckles, right before shoving an entire pancake in her mouth.

"Faith!" I say, and she just gives me that look. The look I don't know what to do with. I just roll my eyes and shake my head.

I start to work on my own breakfast and wait for my mother to start talking.

"So…"

I look up to see my mother very nervously looking away. I joked about running away with Faith, and I really wouldn't want to have to do that - but I also don't want to go back to having to hide who I am. I can't even let myself think about what will happen if she doesn't want us to be together - or if she kicks Faith out.

"I'm so sorry, Faith. I hope things weren't worse for you because I held Buffy back." I am so relieved by her apology that I almost let Faith let her get off easy.

"S'ok Mrs. S. We're five by..." I cut Faith off before she can finish her catchphrase that no one understands.

"I'm sure what Faith means - to say…" I give Faith a pointed look, hoping that she'll be quiet. "Is that if you're willing to relax the whole 'us not sharing a room thing' that we would totally be willing to forgive you."

Faith nods, "yeah - what B said." Then she reaches for another pancake and grabs a handful of bacon.

"Oh, I don't know. You're both so young - it just doesn't seem..." I'm trying to come up with any kind of argument to convince her - but Faith beats me to it.

"You were just saying the other day how you wanted more storage for the gallery. Us sharing a room takes care of that. We'll help you out with moving stuff around too." Faith says this, and stuffs more pancake into her mouth.

I am completely shocked. I was just hoping to get an occasional night together, but what Faith said sounded like a permanent thing - an every night thing. I never expected that from her. I seriously hope my mother says yes. Now that the idea is in my head, I can't imagine anything less.

"I'll think about it."

"If it helps - you can take my room. Since it's bigger." I offer and watch her try to decide.

"I really could use the space." My mother says, and I hold my breath. "You'll help me? Any time I ask?"

"Of course, we will," I say immediately, and I can tell that she's going to say yes.

"Well, I guess it's OK then. As long as you are responsible, and your grades don't slip."

Crap - my grades. I'm going to need Willow's help with that. I completely missed everything that happened yesterday. "They won't."

"What do you girls have planned for today?"

"We're going to go deal with Angel," I say, and then I realize I still don't know for sure if my mother believes in vampires or not.

"Well, be careful." She says and leaves the room.

"OK - so that was weird," I say and Faith nods, scraping at her plate to get the last bits of syrup off of it. I have no idea how she packs away so much food.

Once she's accepted that there's nothing left to eat, she starts clearing away the dishes. I watch her for a moment before I realize I should probably help.

* * *

We've been walking for about five minutes, and I really have no idea what happens when we get there. Most of me wants to hurt Angel for what he did to Faith. But another part of me wants to give him a chance to explain how he could have done this. I get the whole soul thing... or at least I think I do.

I just thought he cared about me. I thought he was special, that there was some grand plan for us. Not in like a couple-y way - just... I don't even know.

"You gonna tell me why you're so pissed off at Giles?"

"He just…. He didn't want to help me save you." As much as I don't want to think about Giles, I'm glad for the distraction.

Faith just shrugs. "Yeah - I get that."

"What do you mean you get it? He told me to just let you die!" OK - I did not mean to say that.

"Well - yeah. That makes sense." She tilts her head at me like I'm the one who's lost their mind here.

"How does it make sense? Are you saying I shouldn't have gone after you? And if it was me Angel took - you wouldn't have come after me?" I can't believe she's saying this to me.

"Woah - hey. That's not what I said."

"Then what do you mean?"

"B - look. I know you like him - he's been good to you. But he's your boss, not your friend and definitely not mine. From his point of view, he's got two slayers right now - if I die - no big. Get a fresh new slayer - you die - no new slayer." She shrugs a little, "so yeah - I get it." She says this like it makes the most sense in the world and that I'm crazy for not understanding it.

She's standing there telling me that it's no big deal if she dies. Telling me that Giles is just our boss. Then all kinds of other stuff she's said starts to add up. And I realize what a complete idiot I've been.

I can't look at her right now, so I just start walking.

"Hey, wait up."

She's limping as she tries to catch up with me. "Why don't you just head back. I'll take care of Angel."

"What?"

"You said you don't care what happens to him - so it doesn't make sense for you to come with me." I motion to her leg and start walking again. I don't know what I'm going to do with Angel and I don't have any idea how to deal with Faith.

I was so happy just twenty minutes ago, now it seems like I have no idea what is going on.

How did my life get so impossibly complicated?

**Faith**

Fuck - what the hell did I do now? She's clearly super pissed at me, and I have no idea why.

My leg is kinda killing me - so it does make a little sense for me to just go home. But I wanna be with her to deal with Angel.

"B, wait."

She turns around with her arms crossed, she can't even look at me. I've never had to deal with this before. I've never cared about pissing people off. But B is not people. I gotta find a way to fix this.

"What did I do?"

"You didn't do anything. Your leg hurts - so it just makes sense. Especially since you don't care about Angel anyway.". Her words make sense, but nothing else does.

I move closer to her and grab her hands. She looks like she's not gonna let me, but then she gives in.

"So, you're not pissed at me right now?"

"No, I'm not." Right sure she's not.

"B. Look at me." It takes a while, but finally, she does.

"You don't have to do whatever this is. I get it. Just go home, and I'll talk to you later."

I laugh a little. "I told you I was going to fuck up.

"You didn't do anything wrong. It's fine."

"Yeah?" I say, and move closer. "Look - the only way this works is if we can tell each other the truth. If you're pissed at me - I'm not gonna be upset."

That was definitely the wrong thing to say, she pulls her hands out of mine and backs further away. "Of course, you won't be upset. Why would you be?"

I kinda feel like I'm drowning here. I gotta figure this out. It would help if she gave me a fucking clue as to what I did. "I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings with the whole Giles thing - I..."

"It's fine. Just forget it - I'll see you later." She turns and walks away from me.

Oh fuck this.

I am not letting this happen. It hurts like hell, but I chase after her and tackle her to the ground. "It's simple, B. Tell me why you're so pissed at me, or I won't be there when you get home."

"What? No!" She tries to roll around so she can face me, but that's not what I want.

"I mean it." I seriously hope she starts talking, 'cause the last thing I want is to leave.

"OK, I'll explain. Just let me up."

"Nah - I think I like you right here. You can talk just fine."

She's not talking and I'm starting to freak out a little.

"I don't know what I did - but here's the thing. I don't do anything I don't wanna do. So if I didn't want to be here with you - I wouldn't be. I thought the deal was that you got to be you and I got to be me. If I gotta pretend to be someone else around you - I can do that somewhere else."

I can feel her relaxing under me, and I think maybe that's a good sign. "I don't want you to pretend to be someone else."

"Alright - then tell me what I did."

"I guess I thought maybe you don't care about anything." Then she closes her eyes. "Including me."

I laugh and she tenses up again. "Trust me - if I didn't care about you - we would not be having this conversation."

She's not relaxing so I guess that's not good enough.

"B, this is the longest I've stayed in one spot since it was up to me. That's 'cause of you. But if you don't want me here - say the word and I'm gone." I start to push up off of her when she doesn't say anything, but she starts to panic.

"I don't want you to leave. That's the last thing I want."

I put my weight back on her and she seems to relax. "Good. Then this can be easy for both of us. If I piss you off - just tell me. Give me a chance to figure it out. If you want something you're gonna have to tell me. I'm not looking to play games with you."

"No games." She agrees and now I'm starting to feel her body moving under mine.

"Good. Now that we have that all figured out..." I lean up a little and put one hand on her hip, starting to move it under her.

She tenses a little.

"Since I didn't get to finish you off this morning..." She bites her lip and shakes her head a little. I stop my hand at the top of her pants. "Nobody can see us." That seems to do the trick and she lifts her hips enough for me to slide my hand in.

"Faith!" She calls out and fuck that feels good to hear. But she is maybe being a little too loud, so I move to where I can kiss her. Now she's moaning and panting into my mouth. It doesn't take long at all for her moans to start getting louder and out of control.

"Mmmm." She kisses me more and I take my hand out of her pants, letting her roll over under me. We kiss a little bit more and I pull back. I brush the hair away from her face and hope she can see what I need her to see.

She doesn't know if I care about her - she's the only thing that I care about. I gotta figure out how to make sure she knows and never forgets. I kiss her again, I'm not good with words - I hope she can feel what I'm trying to tell her.

When she pulls back she's got a big smile on her face and I think maybe she gets it.

"Are you going to tackle me every time we have something to talk about?" She grins at me.

"Maybe - seems to have worked so far." I lean down to kiss her and her hands are working their way into my pants. I stop her before she slides all the way in. "Let's go deal with Angel, first."

She looks a little bummed but she agrees and we get back to our feet.

* * *

Angel is in the same spot we left him in. I'd almost think he was dead - well, you know - regular dead.

Buffy walks right up to him and kicks him in the leg. "Wake up."

Angel grunts but raises his head. Buffy nails him in the face with a right hook, and his head smashes into the wall. He vamps out, and she punches him again.

"B."

"What?" She whips around to face me - like I'm the bad guy. That's not what I want to be here. I just can't let her get too hard - I can't let her turn into me.

"I thought we were gonna talk to him?"

She doesn't seem to like my question too much, she kicks him again and stomps towards me. "Talk to him then."

Fuck - how am I supposed to be the sane one here? I gotta figure this out. I look away from her and focus on him. I walk over and pull the metal pipe out of his leg. He screams and then clasps his hand over his leg. I throw the pipe down and kneel down next to him.

"How?" I ask and jab him in the leg. He stares me down like he thinks he's tougher than me. He's got no clue.

"Waited for you two to wear each other out. Snuck in and took you." He's barely getting his words out.

"Still wanna thank me?" I ask and dig into his thigh again - he's trying not to react, but he can only hold out for so long before he screams again.

I spit in his face and stand back up.

Buffy is next to me with her arm around my waist. "Anything else we wanted to know? Time to stake him?"

I look down at how pathetic he is, and I get a different idea. "He's got his soul now, right? He's all good again?"

"I guess - what does that matter?"

"Well - I was just thinking - how much worse for him it must be now. He almost had you. Now, look at him. Staking him now seems like letting him get away with being a total asshole." I can tell by his face that he hates that idea.

"But…" She frowns as she looks down at him. "We can't just let him get away with what he did."

"What do you think, Angel? You feel like you're getting away with anything here?"

He looks up at me with pure hate in his face, and I just laugh.

"You really do have your soul back."

He looks away, and I laugh again.

"Here's the deal - supposedly you've been 'good' all this time. Cursed with your soul - but what have you done that's good? You didn't help B when you coulda. How many vamps could you have taken out over the years? But you didn't do shit, did you?"

I hear B gasp next to me, and his shoulders drop even more.

"Yeah - that's what I thought. You pretended to be some kind of champion - but that's all bullshit. You saw B and got all hard for her - look how that turned out."

He looks back up at me, and I grin. He knows I'm right about this. whatever guilt he was holding on to before just got a whole lot worse.

"So this is how it's gonna go. We're gonna take your chains off, and you're gonna start helping out around here."

I bend down and start to untangle him from his chains.

"You're never gonna see B again. You find something out that we need to know - you tell Giles or me." He's free now - but he doesn't move. "We ever think you're up to something and you are dust. Here me?"

He nods, and I stand back up. I look at B, and she's frowning.

"If you don't think this is the right move - I'll just stake him," I say and pull out a stake.

"No - I think it makes sense. I just..." B shakes her head. "Why did you do it? Why did you take her?"

Angel looks up at her, and I want to smash his face in for upsetting her. I don't even care about the shit it did to me.

"I wanted to hurt you."

"B?" I look at her, and now I think maybe this was a big mistake. I should just stake him. As long as he's around - he's always going to be in her head.

It takes her a little too long to look away from him and face me. But once she does - I can see that I was wrong - I'm all she's thinking about.

She pulls me close and starts to kiss me. "We should get back home."

Without even a look back at Angel, we walk out of the mansion with my arm around her shoulder, and her arm is around my waist. I never coulda imagined I'd be into all this touchy-feely bullshit. But with B - I just always wanna be touching her.

"Step away from her, Buffy." Giles, Red, and Xan are right outside the mansion. All three of them holding up crosses.

"Yeah - no way I'm doing that," B says and holds me closer.

"You don't understand," Giles says and waves the cross at me again.

"You're not wrong," B says and moves me a little behind her. I'd fight her on that, but I don't know what the hell is going on.

"She's a vampire," Xan says and pushes his cross towards me again.

"Who is?" B asks.

"Faith is," Giles says, B and me share a look and then look at the sky - motioning to the sun that's shining right down on me.

"Oh... right... well." Giles drops his cross, and so do Red and Xan.

"Care to explain?" B asks, and Giles looks wicked embarrassed.

"I received a call from the council this morning." He can't seem to look at me.

"And?" B takes a step towards him.

"They said another slayer was called."


	7. Chapter 7

**Faith**

It's been a trippy few days.

Finding out I died really freaked B out. She's been all over me - the only time I get alone is when she's at school. She thinks she's bugging me with all the attention, but she's definitely not.

I hear make-up sex is supposed to be the best - but I bet no one who thinks that has ever had 'sorry my ex kidnapped, tortured and killed you' sex. No way anything is better than that.

I'm just trying not to get too used to it. She'll eventually get over feelin' bad. Not that I minded the way things were before - I'm just really enjoying the way things are now.

Shit - I'm late. Got caught up helping Mrs. S. B is probably freaking out.

I finally get into the library to see some lady talking to Giles and some black chick talking to Xander - she looks a little freaked by how close he is - once I figure out where B is, I'll deal with that.

"Where the fuck is B?" I stalk right up to Giles.

"You must be Faith, care to explain your tardiness?" The lady says to me, and I wanna roll my eyes at what a stuck up bitch she clearly is.

"Dunno - maybe 'cause my mom dropped me on my head." She looks wicked confused, and I try not to laugh. "Pretty sure you're not supposed to ask shit like that anymore. Pretty rude. Who the fuck are you anyway? Wait - don't care - where is B?" I ask again, I'm getting seriously annoyed now.

"If you are referring to the other slayer - I sent Ms. Summers to retrieve the sword she used to kill the vampire Kakistos."

I don't wait around to find out more - I'm running as fast as I can to Angel's mansion. Not 'cause I'm jealous - I just don't want her to have to see him. She's done a lot for me - least I can do is keep her from having to deal with that jackass.

When I get there, she's standing out in front, staring at the door. I can't see her face, but she can't be happy about having to come here. I walk about behind her and wrap my arms around her. She leans into me and sighs.

"You were late." She sounds kinda disappointed. I really don't like it when she's disappointed in me.

"Yeah, sorry about that - was helping your ma." I pull her closer and rub my cheek over her neck and she lets out a happy little moan. I love the fact that I can do this any time I want.

"You're here now, though." She turns around and kisses me. "I guess you met Mrs. Post?"

"Sorta - who the hell is she anyway?"

"New slayer comes with a new watcher, I guess." She shrugs, and I can tell she's about to apologize to me again. It's not the time for that, so I keep her quiet with a quick kiss.

"How is the new slayer? Did you talk to her?"

"Not really - Post sent me out pretty much right away when she heard me telling Giles about the sword I used."

"He home?" I motion towards the mansion.

"Don't know."

"Alright - I'll go grab this thing, and we can get out of here." She nods and steps away from me. I pull her back and kiss her again, hoping to take her mind off of where we are at least for a little bit. This time when she backs away, she's smiling. "Be right back."

I get to the front door, and it's locked. I'm sure as hell not gonna knock or ring the bell - so I just kick the door in. It bangs crazy loud when it hits the floor.

"Yo! Anyone home?" I yell, and my voice echoes. This place is creepy as fuck, no wonder why he's been hanging out here.

There's no answer, so I just start looking around for the sword. After ten minutes of not being able to find it - I am getting seriously pissed off. B said she left it up here somewhere.

"Looking for something?" Angel is standing in the doorway - he looks like hell. Dude can hardly stand.

"Yeah, that sword B took Kakistos out with. Where is it?"

"What do you want with that sword?"

"Watcher sent us out to get it." My patience is already gone, he better tell me where this thing is.

"I can't let you take it." He says, and I have to hold back from just smashing his face in.

"Do you really think you can stop me?" I walk over and jab him in the leg.

He falls over and lands hard on his ass, "It doesn't matter what you do to me. You are not taking that sword."

"Listen man… I am seriously sick of your shit." I kneel down next to him. "B is standing outside, waiting for me to get this sword. The longer she waits, the more it hurts her." The more pissed off I get too - but I'm sure he doesn't care about that. "So if you're not gonna tell me where the sword is, and I can't torture it out of you - I've only got one choice left." I pull my stake out, and I know he gets my meaning.

"It should be destroyed."

"That's not really my department." I sit back a little, being this close to him is making me want to gag. "Look - we're just giving it to the watchers, not like I'm planning on pawning it."

"Fine." It takes him fucking forever to stand up again, and I have to fight hard with myself to not just knock him on his ass once he does. But as much fun as it is to torture Angel - I wanna get B as far away from here as I can.

He comes back a few minutes later and holding the sword. "I'm serious, Faith. This sword is very dangerous. It should be destroyed."

"I'll be sure to pass on the message." He hands the sword over, and I'm really tempted to stab him with it, just for annoying me - but even I'm not that mean.

**Buffy**

We take our time walking back to school, I know her leg must be killing her. It's not entirely healed, and she ran all the way here. It's not like I'm in any kind of rush to get back to the new watcher and her pet slayer.

I do not know what the deal is there, but there was something I really didn't like about it.

"Finally!" Mrs. Post comes rushing towards us with her hands outstretched, once we enter the library. "Give me the sword."

"Nah, think I'll give it to G-man." Faith says and holds the sword behind her.

"Faith, please try to be reasonable here. I am your watcher, and I am ordering you to give me that sword." This lady really doesn't know how to get Faith to do something she wants.

I hop up on the counter to watch the show. Faith is having a lot of fun keeping it away from Mrs. Post.

"Kendra! I need your help!" Suddenly Kendra is out in the central part of the library, and this show is starting to be less fun. I have no doubt that Faith can handle herself - but she is not at full-strength. I block Kendra's path to Faith. She's hesitating, which is good because I really don't feel like having to fight her.

"Hey - Kendra - how long have you known this lady?" Faith asks, still keeping the sword away.

That question seems to stun Kendra, and now I'm not worried at all. Though I do wonder how Faith knew someone was sketchy with this new watcher. I had a feeling something was off, but not enough to actually do anything about it. Of course, it could just be that Faith never trusts anyone. I hop back onto the counter to watch the rest of the show.

"We only met at the airport, ma'am," Kendra says, and I can't help but laugh.

"Did you just call me ma'am?" Faith pauses for a second, and crazy watcher lady almost gets to within reach of the sword.

"I've always been taught to respect my elders, ma'am," Kendra says, and I think she totally meant it. I practically fall off the counter, and Faith once again almost lets Post get within a few feet of the sword. It wouldn't even be an issue if it wasn't for her leg.

"Not sure what you're laughing about - you're hella older than me." Faith says, and I suddenly realize I have no idea how old she is.

"Wait - how old are you?" I ask, and she just winks at me. "We are so talking about this later."

"Whatever you say, B." She blows me a kiss, and I shake my head and laugh.

"Where is Giles?" I finally notice that he isn't here.

I hear Mrs. Post laugh, and I think it's time to end this game of keep-a-way. I come up behind her and put her in a headlock.

"What did you do with him?"

Kendra seems to forget which side she's on, and she puts me in a choke-hold. I don't let up my grip on Post at all, but I might have to if Kendra starts squeezing.

"You better pick a side right now." Faith's voice is cold and terrifying. I can't see what she's doing, but I really hope Kendra backs off. "Cause if you don't take your hands off my girl right now - you're gonna be the shortest-lived slayer ever."

I have to say - I am not hating Faith's protective side, but I definitely hope she doesn't have to do anything she's going to regret right now.

"Kendra - think about this. We're slayers - you know you can trust us." I say, and I feel Kendra start to back away. I tighten my hold on Post and start to push her towards the book cage. If we can get her locked up, maybe we'll have time to sort this all out.

"What is going on here!?" Shit - where the hell did Snyder come from?!

Whatever happens next - happens so fast that I don't even understand any of it.

I feel like I blinked, and when I opened my eyes again - Snyder is lying dead on the floor with a sword buried in his chest, and Post is trying to pull it out.

"What in the holy mother of fuck?" I hear Faith whisper as she's staring down at his body with a look of sheer terror on her face. I know I should probably care about the sword and the evil watcher - but all I care about right now is Faith.

"Faith?"

She doesn't respond, her fists are clenched at her side, and she can't take her eyes off of him.

"Look at me, please, Baby. Look at me."

I stand in between her and the dead principal, that seems to break her spell for a moment, but she's not looking at me. She's looking at her hands like they've betrayed her.

"I didn't…"

"No Faith - you didn't. You didn't cause this!" I move closer and put my hands on her shoulders, moving until I can finally catch her eyes.

"I don't understand… why did… what happened?" She looks so scared, and all I want to do is figure out how to make things better.

"I don't know - it happened so fast." Then she holds up her hand to me - it's all black like it was burned with something. At the same time, I also register searing pain in the arm I had around Post's neck. My arm is blackened the same way Faith's hand is.

"We gotta go after them." Faith says, and we're off and running through the hallways.

Kendra is shouting something, and then she screams - we catch up just in time to watch Post blast lighting towards Kendra, which smashes her into the wall. Post grins at us and then vanishes into thin air.

"What the fuck!?" Faith shouts and runs to the spot Post vanished from.

"Kendra? Are you OK?" I lean down, and she accepts my help to stand.

She looks very confused and then looks down at her shirt. There is a large circular burn mark in the center of it. "This was my only shirt." She frowns and then glares at the spot that Post disappeared from. I hope this means she won't forget which side she's on.

"Do you know where Giles is?"

She looks ashamed, "he's just in his office. Mrs. Post knocked him out just before you two came in."

"OK, let's go check on him and figure out what to do next." I look over at Faith, who is still looking confused and pissed off. It takes a bit, but finally, she turns and follows us towards the library.

"Well now, what do we have here?" A man I don't recognize is standing over Snyder's body with a grin that does not at all fit the situation.

"We just got here, how the hell would we know?" Faith says, and I hope her mouth doesn't get us into trouble. As much as I love it when she swears - now is probably not the time.

"Now, now there's no cause for such language." He gives Faith a disappointed look, and I'm surprised that she seems ashamed that he's upset with her. He kneels down, and I know that he knows way more than we do. "So, you don't know anything about the curious wound in this man's chest?"

"No, of course, we don't. We just came to the library to study." I say, and my stomach sinks as he smiles at me.

"You are everything I was hoping you would be." He looks me over and grins.

I share a glance with Faith and quickly shake my head, hoping she'll know that it would not be a good idea to kill this man.

"I know who you are." He points to Faith and me. "But I'm not sure about you."

"She's no one," I say quickly and step forward a little. If he doesn't know who Kendra is, maybe we have a chance at getting out of this mess.

"Well, I'm sure that isn't true. I should clarify - I know she's the latest slayer - I just don't know her name."

With that comment, Faith growls and steps forward. I grab her and just barely manage to stop her from attacking.

"There's no need for violence. I am certain we can help each other here."

"We don't need your help." Faith spits out at him while struggling to get away from me.

"No? You're not concerned about being blamed for this murder?" He motions to the body, and my insides clench. There are a lot of mysterious deaths that are ignored in Sunnydale, but the death of the principal might not be so easily blamed on gangs and PCP.

Faith has stopped fighting to get away from me, now she's just standing with her arms crossed over her chest - looking incredibly pissed off. I don't have any idea what to say or do here.

"Who do you think they'll believe? The Mayor of Sunnydale or the juvenile delinquents that were found near his body?"

"What do you want?" I ask, and Faith turns to me like I've lost my mind.

"It's simple, really. I want the sword that was used to kill this man."

"We don't have it." Faith quickly says, crossing her arms over her chest.

"That's a shame. I thought we were going to be able to help each other here." The look of disappointment he gives her this time has an even more profound effect on her. She's totally lost her defensive posture. I am very confused by her reaction to him, it's almost like she knows him.

"Maybe we can get it, though. We know who took it." Faith says, and I'm completely confused.

"That is excellent news!" Then he looks at all of us again, and I really don't like the glint in his eye. "In the meantime, I'll just hold on to Ms. Summers."

"No fucking way!" Faith shouts and shoves him away. "We'll get you your sword, but you're not holding on to anybody." I'm not at all glad she's saying we will get him the sword, but I was almost worried for a moment that she would give in to anything he asked her for.

His grin only widens, and I think we played right into his hand. "Well, in that case... I may need more than the sword. I do have other tasks suited to a slayer's special skills."

"Fine, whatever you want." Faith answers, and now I'm looking at her like she's lost her mind.

The Mayor chuckles, and it gives me the serious wiggins. He has us exactly where he wants us, and he knows it.

"Since you clearly cannot agree, I will hold on to Ms. Summers until you retrieve the sword, and then you will owe me a favor."

"What? No fucking way! You can't take her, and we aren't doing shit for you!" Faith yells and looks like she's about to attack, but before she can - a sword point appears through the Mayor's chest.

"Well, that's just no good at all." He says as he looks down at the new bloody hole in his chest - right before he crashes to the ground.

"Giles!" When the Mayor drops to his knees, I see that Giles has stabbed him through the back.

"Go. I've got this under control." He says, and I really have no idea how everyone has gone insane in the past few minutes.

"But..."

"Come on, B! We gotta go!" Faith is yelling and trying to drag me towards the library doors.

I don't know how the hell it happened, but the three of us are outside and running full speed towards my house. I can hear sirens approaching, and I have no idea what's about to happen to Giles.

I'm so confused, and now we've gone back to my house. Faith took Kendra upstairs to get a new shirt, and I head into the kitchen to see if there are any messages. I'm sure it's way too soon for Giles to be done with the police, but it's the only thing I can think to do.

"Who was that girl?" My mother asks - I didn't even realize she was in the room.

"She's another slayer," I say, not really thinking about it. I'm too busy thinking about Giles and why Faith reacted so weirdly to the Mayor.

"Another..." Then she gets this really freaked out look on her face, and I think it's because she realizes that Faith must've had died. Boy, was I wrong. "Are you expecting her to live here?"

"What? No, I mean, she might have to stay for a little bit."

"Buffy, I'm trying to be supportive and understanding here... but you have to choose."

"I have to choose what?" I'm starting to think I'm in shock, this must be why I can't figure out what the hell she's talking about.

Then she takes a deep breath. "I'm sure Kendra is a lovely girl - but I cannot allow you to move yet another girlfriend into my house. I just.. I can't."

"Mom! What are you talking about? I said Kendra is a slayer, not my girlfriend." I can hear Faith cracking up in the other room and giving Kendra a very unhelpful rundown of what is going on here. That is not making it easier for me to make sense of why my mother has completely lost her mind.

"Well, yes... but I thought you were using that as code. Because you didn't want anyone to know."

So this is officially the weirdest conversation I never wanted to be part of. "She's not..." I really don't see the point in trying to explain what a slayer actually is, especially since she seems unable to retain information. If I ever see Giles again, I'll have to talk to him about this. "It's just a club. It doesn't mean we are all girlfriends. We're just all in the slayer club together."

"You don't need to lie about this, I was young once too."

Oh my God. This is not happening - I must be dead or in a coma. No way did my mom just say this.

"I am not lying, mom. Kendra is not my girlfriend."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course, I'm sure, mom. I'm pretty sure I would know If I had two girlfriends."

"Well, alright. But she can't share a room with you."

"We'll figure something out," I say, and I can tell she doesn't even a little believe me. I wonder if she's been eating Ted's cookies again. Faith and Kendra re-enter the kitchen, and Faith is just barely stopping herself from cracking up.

"OK dear, have a good 'slayer club' meeting." She actually does air quotes around 'slayer club' like she knows that I'm lying.

"We will." Faith manages to keep her cool until my mom is into the living room, and then she can't seem to stop laughing.

"It's not that funny," I say, but it kinda is that funny. If I wasn't so freaked out, I might actually be able to laugh along with her.

"I do not understand," Kendra says, and that seems to be what tips me over the edge.

It takes Faith and me another minute or so to get ourselves under control. "I guess we can officially get this slayer club meeting started." Faith says and sits down at the counter. Grabbing an apple from the bowl and taking a big bite.

"I guess." I sit down next to her and drop my head to the counter. "What do you think is going to happen to Giles?"

"Dunno, probably nothing." Faith shrugs and takes another bite.

"But he killed the mayor."

"Yeah - but he was up to something. I'm sure G knew what he was doing."

OK, so this is a pointless thing to try to talk about now. We'll just have to wait until Giles gets in touch with us. "Kendra - do you know anything about Mrs. Post? Where she might have gone with the sword? Or why she might want it?"

"I'm afraid not. She brought me directly from the airport to your school. I was taught never to question my watcher." Kendra is standing very awkwardly in the kitchen. Her eyes darting around like she's never even been in a house before.

"Did you hear them say anything about that sword - what it might be used for?" I ask, and I'm starting to wonder if Kendra has ever had a thought of her own. I hope she sticks around, so we get a chance to help her figure out how to think for herself.

Kendra shook her head, and Faith blew out an annoyed breath. "I know someone who might know something." Then she turns like she's about to leave.

"Where are you going? I really don't think we should split up." She looks like she can't decide what to do. "Who is it?"

"Angel. When I took the sword - he said it should be destroyed. He's gotta at least know what it's for." I'm a little annoyed that she didn't mention that before, not that the information would have been helpful.

"OK - we'll all go." I nod and head for the door.

"Are you sure, B? I don't want you to have to deal with him." I know she's just trying to protect me, but I don't need to be protected from Angel.

"Can you give us a minute, Kendra? Help yourself to anything in the kitchen." Kendra looks very confused, but I just drag Faith into the dining room. "I don't care about Angel."

"I know, but..."

Then I shut her up with a kiss. "I mean it. He means less than nothing to me. When you said what you did about how he was pretending to be a champion - but not really helping - something clicked for me. Seeing him or talking about him does not upset me even a little."

"You're sure? You were looking pretty bummed when you were supposed to be getting the sword."

"That was only because I didn't know where you were, and I didn't think you'd want me to go in there alone. It wasn't because of him."

She's looking at me like she's not sure whether to believe me or not.

"Trust me. I do not care about him. But if it bothers you for me to talk to him, I can just wait outside."

"Nah, I wouldn't want you to miss out on the fun of getting information out of him." She grins, and finally, I think she accepts that I'm not lying. "What do we tell Kendra about him?"

"The truth. He's a vampire with a soul that might know something useful about that sword. He's our ally, but we don't like or trust him. Sound good?"

Faith nods, and we begin our trek to Angel's mansion.


	8. Chapter 8

**Buffy**

As we approach the mansion, I can hear Angel screaming. I motion for Faith and Kendra to follow me to the side of the building. Hoping we can see what's going on before we are noticed by whoever is torturing him.

Angel is strung up by his arms, and Post is shooting electric bolts at him.

"Where is the sword?" She says and zaps him before he would even have a chance to answer.

Faith and I share a glance, and she shrugs. I can only guess that Angel gave her the wrong sword - I didn't really look at it closely myself, so I have no idea.

I motion for Faith to stay here and Kendra to go around front. I start to climb up the side of the building, knowing I can sneak around to the stairs - when Kendra stops me.

"Shouldn't we check in first?"

"Check-in?" I ask her, trying not to raise my voice.

"Yes - with the watcher's council. Shouldn't we learn their orders?"

I almost laugh at the idea of taking orders from anyone - especially the council. But I guess she's new here, so I'm trying to stay calm and rational as I try to convince her that she's out of her mind.

"You need orders to decide if we should try to top the evil lightning hands lady? Don't you remember from like an hour ago how she electrocuted the hell out of you and ruined your only shirt?"

She looks over at Faith, I'm guessing for some kind of support. I'm sure Faith will be on my side with this. She's always for jumping headfirst into any situation.

"Maybe she has a point." Faith says, and I shake my head a little, wondering not for the first time today if everyone else had lost their minds.

"What point exactly does she have? Post is clearly evil and up to something." I am thoroughly confused by Faith's attitude here. She's always saying how dumb she thinks the council is - so why the hell is she arguing with me about this?

"Are you sure…" She hesitates and looks away.

"Am I sure about what?" My patience is just about run out with this situation. Listening to Angel scream his head off while these two are giving me a hard time is starting to make me feel a little crazy. I'm trying to stay calm though, maybe Faith sees something that I don't.

Then she crosses her arms over her chest and gives me a look I really don't like. "Are you sure you're not just worried about saving your boy?"

"You cannot be serious." Did she really just ask me that? I thought we were past all this nonsense about Angel.

"What does she mean - your boy?" Kendra asks, and I'm struggling very hard not to scream.

"Look - you know the sword is dangerous - we know that lady is dangerous. That is all this is about. I really don't care about what she's doing to Angel. What will it take for you to believe me?" I try to get Faith to look at me, but she won't. I completely ignore Kendra's question and just focus on Faith, that might work a little better if she was willing to look at me.

Angel's screaming is pretty much non-stop now. And even though I very much do not care about him, it's not a pleasant sound. Mostly I just really want this situation to be over. I can't stand the way that Faith is not looking at me.

I thought I finally met someone who would always just know what I'm thinking. I guess I was wrong.

"How about this - I'll climb up and go around to the stairs. You two distract lightning hands, and I'll stake Angel. That way, she can't find out where the sword is, and people can stop accusing me of completely ridiculous things?"

Faith drops her defensive posture a little, but she still won't look at me.

"We don't need council approval to take out a vamp - do we?" I ask Kendra, and she shakes her head. You'd think that being the oldest slayer here that I would get some respect. "Fine. Let's get this over with."

I climb up the side of the building and push open the window. I creep down the hallway and towards the stairs. Angel's screaming has stopped, I'm not sure if that's a good sign or not.

When I get to where I can see them, I motion to Faith, who is peeking in through the side windows.

She still won't look at me, but she nods and throws a rock through the window and charges in a moment after. Post spins around and immediately shoots lighting in Faith's direction. A moment later, I see the front door flying in.

I know the plan was to take out Angel first, but Post is not letting up with the lighting directed towards Faith. Kendra charges her from the side, but Post just goes at her with her free hand. I really wish I had thought to bring a weapon. I see the candlestick that was previously embedded in Angel's thigh. Quickly I grab it and hurl it towards the evil watcher. It impales her right through the heart, and she drops to her knees. Her lightning fizzles out, and both Faith and Kendra also fall to the ground, neither of them moving.

I run to Post to quickly assess if she's going to cause any more trouble. Seems like she's super dead - I kick her as hard as I can in the ribs. If she's not dead after all that, she's definitely going to wish she was.

Kendra is on the ground about twenty feet away, but she's making awful moaning sounds - so at least I know she's alive. I scoop Faith up and hold her close. Her heart is still beating, but her breath is raspy.

"Faith, please wake up." I cradle her and run my hands through her hair. "Please, baby." I don't know how long I hold her like that, rocking and begging her to wake up.

"B." She coughs out, and I laugh in relief and pull her even tighter to me.

"You really need to stop doing this to me," I say as I shower her face with kisses.

"Sorry." She says, and I laugh at how absurd it is that she's apologizing to me right now.

"Don't be sorry - just stop getting killed or even almost killed."

"I'll see what I can do." She says and smiles at me, and I hope that means she's done giving me a hard time about Angel. "I shouldn't have…"

"It's forgotten." I wave off her attempt at an apology and help her to stand. Kendra is back on her feet too. Angel is still hanging from his hands unconscious. I take my stake out and head towards him. I'm surprised when Faith grabs my arm and stops me from dusting him.

"Wait - shouldn't we find out where the sword is?" Faith asks, I just stare at her for a moment. I really have no idea what to do here. I don't want Angel to be an issue for us, but we probably do need to know where the sword is.

Angel starts to stir, groaning loudly and shaking his chains. I don't even look at him, I'm just looking at Faith - who still won't look at me. "Do whatever you want, I'll be outside." I couldn't possibly care less about Angel or the sword. I just want this incredibly irritating day to be over. I don't wait for anyone to say anything, I just head out and sit on the front steps.

I try not to listen or even think about what they are doing in there. Of course, I also don't want to think about what is going to happen next. Is Faith ever going to trust me? She told me that she never trusts anyone, I guess I should have realized that I was included in that.

I just thought I was special to her.

A few minutes later, Faith and Kendra walk out, Faith resting the sword over her shoulder.

"We got the sword." Faith says, still not looking at me.

"I will get in touch with the council," Kendra says, and I roll my eyes. It seems like she thinks she's in charge of our little slayer club. I don't have the energy to care about that right now.

**Faith**

I really fucked that all up. I don't know why I can't just trust her completely. She says she chose me, and that he means nothing to her. It's just so hard to believe that someone as amazing as B would want to be with me.

I'm afraid to even look at her. What if me being a jealous asshole pushes her away? Just the thought of it makes my chest ache.

"Faith?"

I look over at B, and it seems like she must have just asked me something. I try to pretend like I'm not completely freaking out right now. "What's up?"

"Are you ready to get going? Do you want me to carry that?" She motions to the sword.

"Nah, I got it." She shrugs and starts walking away from me. I watch her and Kendra walking side by side for a few seconds before I start following them.

How the hell am I gonna fix this? Why did I have to say that shit? Even if B was trying to save Angel, it doesn't even matter.

I let Kendra and B walk ahead of me. B is asking her all kinds of questions, and I know I should probably pay attention to what they're talking about. I'm just too pissed off at myself to be bothered.

I guess I should have known this wasn't gonna work. I can't do anything right.

The sound of B's laughter pulls me out of my stupor. She laughs and touches Kendra's arm, and everything goes black.

"Faith!"

I don't know what the hell just happened. B is screaming at me to stop, and I can't figure out why. When my vision clears, Kendra is on the ground, and I am pinning her there.

The sword is held against her throat.

As soon as I realize what I'm doing, I drop the sword and crawl away. B is helping Kendra to stand, and they are both looking at me like I'm crazy. I'm feeling pretty crazy at the moment, so it doesn't bother me.

"What happened?" I ask, and B looks like she can't figure out how she feels about this. I kinda can't believe she's not screaming at me after how I treated her earlier. Hell - she coulda knocked me off of Kendra, but she didn't even do that.

She bends down and picks up the sword. She closes her eyes, and when she opens them again, she throws the sword to the ground. Then she comes over to me and helps me to stand.

"Are you OK?" She asks me and all I want to do is drop down to my knees and beg her to forgive me. I don't do it though, I just stare at my hands and try to remember how to breathe.

"I don't know." That's all I can manage to say and I can see how disappointed in me she is.

"Let's just get back home."

Fuck - I seriously hope I still have a home. What if she kicks me out? Damn, I bet she's at least gonna wanna go back to having her own room. Maybe I should just take off now. That way she doesn't have to deal with my stupid ass.

Kendra is standing there with her arms crossed over her chest. "I think I'll be going my own way, and you can be sure I will be reporting this incident to the council."

Buffy sighs, squeezing my hand a little. I don't even remember her taking my hand. I really hope this means she's at least gonna give me a chance to try and fix this. "You don't need to report anything to anyone. That sword is evil. That's all. Faith would never hurt you."

I really appreciate B's confidence in me, but I'm not so sure. I remember having a crazy flash of anger before everything went dark, that came from somewhere.

"Are you sure it was the sword's influence? It seems clear to me that you two have been allowed far too much freedom. Neither of you take your duty seriously enough."

I'm really wondering where all that respect for her elders crap went. She's definitely not giving us any respect right now. Kendra scoops up the sword and makes like she's going to walk away. After only taking a few steps, she turns back to us. Her eyes are pitch black, and she's growling.

"That doesn't seem good," I say and take a few steps away from B. Giving us the room we're probably going to need to stop Kendra from killing either of us.

"Why do you think it's affecting her so much more?" B asks.

"Dunno - looks like she is fighting it, at least." Kendra is standing in front of us, holding the sword with two hands. Her teeth are clenched, and her whole body is shaking.

"Kendra," B Says and Kendra's attention focuses on her. I start working my way more to the side, hoping I can find some way to get her to drop the sword before she attacks B. "That's right, Kendra. Keep fighting it. It might be strong - but you are a slayer. You are stronger than any sword."

Kendra is practically panting now.

"You're not going to let some stupid sword tell you what to do, are you?" B says, and I'm glad it's working to keep Kendra distracted.

I'm within reach now, I launch myself at her - knocking the sword out of her hands and pinning her to the ground just in case.

"Are you OK?" I ask after her breathing starts to slow down.

"I…. think so." She says I move away enough to see her eyes. They're back to normal, so I move off of her. Making sure to stand between her and the sword.

"What happened?" She asks, staring at her hands the same way I was a few minutes ago.

"This sword has some bad mojo," B says as she moves towards it. She takes her belt off and wraps it around the handle. "I think this will work."

Kendra stands up, and she looks like a totally different person. Back to the way she was when I first met her. Her head hanging low, and her hands held in front of her. "I'm very sorry for my behavior, ma'am."

"It's not your fault. The sword is evil." B says, and Kendra winces.

"I mean - before. I should not have challenged you, ma'am." She says, and I grin at B, who rolls her eyes at me. "Before we met you - Mrs. Post warned me about you two. She said you were given too much freedom and took too many risks. That I was the true slayer since both of you had failed. She also said a lot of other things that I would rather not repeat. I will not question either of you again."

That sword really must've messed with her head. She seems totally freaked.

"That's not the lesson here. You should question us - you should question everything. Until you decide who you can trust - you can only trust yourself." B says and starts walking. She was staring at me when she said that last part and I really don't like how sad she looked.

I really have to figure out how the hell to fix this.

The rest of the walk back to her house is silent, and I'm starting to really panic. I'm hoping when we get inside, I'll get a chance to talk to her. I still have no idea what the fuck I'm going to say. I really hope something just comes to me or maybe she'll tell me how to fix it.

B walks in to the house first and freezes in the doorway.

"Buffy - these gentlemen are here to talk to you." B's mom says and walks off into the kitchen. The guys in the living room don't look like cops, so I think we're OK. They kinda just look like older and more stuffy versions of Giles.

"Oh good, you have it." One of them walks up to B and tries to grab the sword, but she holds it away and shoves him. He stumbles back and falls into a chair. I'd laugh, but for once I have enough control not to make an ass out of myself.

"Nobody is touching this thing," B says with authority.

The oldest puts down his cup of tea and walks up to her with a smile on his face, holding his hand out like she's gonna shake it. "You are just as feisty as Rupert describes you." He says after he drops his hand, and I'm wondering who the hell Rupert is.

"Who are you people? And what are you doing in my house?" B says, and holy shit, am I glad she's not talking to me like that. Everyone takes a step back, and no one is smiling now.

"My name is Quentin Travers, and I am the head of the watchers' council.

B looks even more pissed off at this news. "Are you going to help Giles?"

"The matter is being handled." He says, and B relaxes a little.

"Good, now why are you here?"

"We have come to collect the sword you possess. It is quite dangerous and cannot fall into the wrong hands."

B looks at the sword and then me. It almost seems like she was gonna ask my opinion but changed her mind. "Fine." Buffy holds the sword out by her belt, and one of the lackeys takes it from her, putting into some kind of case. "So, what happens now?"

"Due to the unfortunate death of your principal, we have a wonderful opportunity," Quentin says, and I can hear B's teeth grinding.

The weasiliest looking guy takes a step forward, holding his hand out to B. She just crosses her arms over her chest, and he drops it. "I am Wesley Wyndham-Price, and I will be taking over for principal Snyder."

"Great," B says. She sounds and looks so tired - so hurt. I really hope these assholes leave so I can get a chance to talk to her. "Is that all?"

"Not quite. Ms. Lehane and Ms. Young must fill out some paperwork. Then we will be on our way.". Weasel-boy says and opens up a briefcase.

"Paperwork?" B asks before I get a chance to.

"Yes, they will each be enrolling in Sunnydale High school."

"Fuck that. No way am I signing up for school."

"I'm afraid that is not your decision." He grins at me, and I seriously want to punch him.

B grunts a little, and I just wanna get them outta here so I can talk to her. "Fine, whatever."

We all move into the dining room, and we start filling out the form. I don't know the answer to half these fucking questions. Well, whatever. I'll just make some shit up. Maybe if they can't figure out who I am - they won't be able to make me go to school.

I finish my form and shove it at weasel-boy. It's then I see that B isn't here. "We done here?" I ask, already running out of the room - I don't even wait to see if they'll answer me.

When I get upstairs, I look in her room first - she's not there. I hold my breath as I walk to our room. I push the door open, and I see she's lying on the bed. Facing away from the door.

"B? You alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." She says without turning to face me, I know she's lying.

"You sure? You're not pissed at me for earlier?"

"No, Faith, I'm not upset with you."

I don't know what to do here. She's clearly upset about something. "Can't believe they're making me go to school," I try changing the subject - just hoping to get her talking.

She shrugs a little, "maybe it won't be so bad."

I lay down on the bed next to her and try to figure out what to say. "I guess Kendra is sticking around."

"Sounds like." She says, and I suddenly feel like I can't breathe. I gotta get her back.

"B?" I've never had to deal with anything like this before. I've never cared about anyone else's feelings.

"Yeah?" She sighs loudly, like I'm bugging her by being here and I feel like maybe I'm gonna throw up.

Alright, I just gotta do this. I can totally do this. "I'm really sorry about earlier." She starts to interrupt me, "no. Please let me say this."

I wait a bit to see if she's gonna let me talk. She doesn't say anything - so I guess I gotta keep talking.

"I really don't know why I said that about Angel. I know you weren't trying to save him."

"It's OK. I get it - and it doesn't matter now anyway."

"Why doesn't it matter?"

"Angel is gone. So he won't be a problem any more."

"Oh." I thought she knew. "We didn't stake him."

That gets her to sit up and look at me for the first time since I came in the room. "Why the hell not?"

"Because B..." I force myself to look at her. "It just didn't make sense. He helped us out, and I don't know... It just didn't feel right."

She looks away from me, then she leans up against the wall and pulls her knees to her chest. She's not saying anything and I have no idea what she's thinking right now. She seemed kinda upset that we didn't take him out. I feel like such an idiot right now. Why the hell didn't we stake him? It woulda been so easy - he just looked so pathetic hanging there, I couldn't bring myself to do it. I coulda just let Kendra do it, she doesn't have any idea about Angel and it would have meant nothing to her.

"So you forgive me then?" I've never apologized to anyone before. I thought it was gonna make her feel better, but it doesn't seem like she does.

"You don't need to be forgiven. You didn't do anything wrong."

"Yeah but..." She grunts and bangs her head against the wall a little. "I mean... you're upset... I wanna make you feel better."

That gets her to look at me with surprise. Then she gives me a smile that I know isn't real. "It's just been a weird day. I'm not upset with you, and I never was."

"OK - but..."

She puts her hand on my arm to get me to stop talking. "I appreciate what you're trying to do - but it isn't necessary."

I roll away from her and sit on the edge of the bed. I know she's lying, and now I'm getting a little pissed off. I'm trying here. I told her I didn't know how to be in a relationship - that I would need her help. So why the fuck isn't she helping me?

"You want me to leave?" I hold my breath while I wait for her to say something. After about a minute of her not answering me, I figure that's enough of an answer. "What a ride though, huh?" I say more to myself than her.

I stand up and look all around the room. I think about what it's been like since I met her. Getting to feel like someone wanted me - even if it was only for a little while. I grab my backpack and shove a few things from the closet into it. Then I open a drawer and stare into it. My whole life, I never imagined I'd have a room like this. Part me always knew it wasn't gonna last. I grab the last bit of my clothes and shut the drawer. "Damn, I'm gonna miss this."

"What? What are you going to miss? What are you doing?" Suddenly B is right next to me and trying to pull the bag out of my hand.

"I'm leavin' like you want me to," I say and try to pull the bag back from her, but she won't let it go.

"No! I don't want you to leave! Please stay - I'm sorry if I was acting weird. But I promise that I don't want you to leave."

She's crying a little bit now, and I'm wicked confused. "But - you're upset, and you won't tell me why. I know it's 'cause of something I did. The deal was that you gotta tell me what I did so I can try and fix it."

"You're right. OK... just... please put the bag down. I'll tell you."

I drop my bag and stare at her, but she's not talking. "Come on - spit it out." I feel kinda bad for being so hard on her, but I have no idea how to make this better if she won't tell me.

"It's just embarrassing and stupid. It doesn't even matter."

"B." I threaten and reach for the bag again. "I told you I didn't wanna play any games. I'm not smart enough to figure out what I did - so you gotta tell me."

She sits down on the bed and covers her face with her hands. "When we first started.. whatever this is... You told me that you don't trust people."

"Yeah? So?"

Then she pushes out a breath. "When you said that... I thought you were telling me because... because you trusted me and you wanted me to know how special that was. Today I realized that I had it wrong. It hurt my feelings, but now that I know - it won't be a problem for me anymore." Then she looks up at me. "I just misunderstood what this was." Standing up, she walks up to me and grabs my hands, leaning in and kissing me gently. "Even though I misunderstood - I still want this. I still want to be with you."

I pull out of her hands and take a step back. "So trusting someone means you can't ever doubt them? I'm supposed to just go with whatever you say? You're not kidding about getting it wrong if you expected me to be your fucking lapdog."

"What? No, of course not. "

"Alright - then you gotta explain to me what trusting someone means. 'Cause I definitely still don't understand." I really hope she can explain this to me. I don't wanna keep fucking up and hurting her feelings.

"The trust I thought we both shared - was that neither of us would ever do anything to hurt the other." Then she walks up to me and places my hand over her heart, and her's over mine. "I realize now that I was unfair to you. Expecting you to just know that I would never hurt you. Just like I know that you would never intentionally hurt me."

I still don't know what the hell she's trying to say.

"And just to be clear. Even if things don't work out between us... if you decide this isn't what you want. I will never ask you to leave. This is your home now. OK? No matter what."

That gets me to relax a bit. She smiles at me and guides me to sit on the bed.

"I'm sorry I got kinda distant there. I just... it really threw me when you said what you did about Angel. And I meant what I said - I was never mad at you. I was just upset with myself for seeing things that weren't there. I definitely don't want or expect you to just agree with everything I say. I just hope you can someday see that I would never do anything to hurt you."

I haven't said anything in a while, and I can tell that's making her nervous. Why is it so hard to tell her that I trust her completely? I

"So, are we OK?"

I look at her and try to figure out what to say here. I don't know how things got to where she's apologizing to me. I know she's not lying to me. She wants me to stay. She was upset with herself for getting things wrong. I still don't have any idea what to say, though. I wish I did.

"I really like you, Faith. And I don't want to lose you - even if we can only be friends. So - just let me know what you want."

Letting her know what I want - that's something I know how to do. I smile and lean over - giving her the sweetest kiss I know how to give. When I pull back from the kiss, her eyes are still closed, and she has a huge smile on her face. So maybe everything isn't as fucked as I thought.

When she finally opens her eyes, I can see the fire burning behind them. In a flash, she pushes me down on the bed. She shoves my shirt up and pulls my pants down in the same motion.

I definitely love her.

Now I just have to figure out how to tell her that.


	9. Chapter 9

**Faith**

I push the door open as quietly as I can, trying not to wake B up. I guess she was waiting for me though cause as soon as I take a step inside the house, she's jumping into my arms and wrapping her legs around my waist.

My hands go to her hips as she pulls me in for the sweetest kiss ever. It is almost worth her not slaying with me to get this kind of greeting.

"Welcome home, baby." She says and kisses me again.

I manage to make it all the way inside and shut the door behind me. I spin us around so I can press her up against the door. She makes the best happy noises until my stomach starts talking, then she pulls back and laughs.

"Take me to the kitchen, woman!" She shouts and makes a whipping motion, which cracks me up.

"Maybe I don't wanna. Maybe I wanna stay right here." I say as I start to kiss along her neck.

"The faster we get you fed - the faster we can get upstairs." The mention of food gets my stomach going again, and as much as I don't wanna stop what we're doing, I know she's right. I mean - I'd be able to ignore how hungry I am, but she never would.

I carry her into the kitchen, but I'm not quite ready to let go of her. I never imagined in my entire life that I could be in a sitch like this. I never thought for a second that I could meet someone like her. Hell, I never imagined I'd meet anyone that would ever be happy to see me.

"You'll have to put me down if you want me to feed you." She grins and kisses me again. I set her down on the counter and stand in between her legs. It's times like these that my slayer metabolism is really annoying. I kiss her some more and slide my hands under her shirt.

"Baby…" She whines a little, even though I know she's lovin' every minute of this. When my stomach gets going again with the noises, I finally stop kissing her and back away. She looks like she's about to hop down - but I stop her. Grabbing her around the waist and placing her gently on the ground. She frowns a little at that, but I can't help myself. I don't want her doing anything that might hurt her.

See - a few days ago, B lost her powers. Which is the only reason I've been out slaying without her. I know how upset she is about it, so I do my best to keep her distracted - but me helping her off the counter just reminded her, and she's got that sad look again.

I never took my hands off her hips, so I pull her tight to me - hoping to get her back into the right mood. She's making happy noises again as I kiss her. After I think she's distracted enough, I back away, push her towards the fridge, and give her a nice smack on the butt. "Where's my grub?" She giggles a little and sticks her tongue out at me.

"What would you like?" She asks as she starts rooting around in the fridge. "Pizza?" She pulls out the box and sets it on the counter at my nod.

Usually, I would just cram half this pizza in my mouth and have her upstairs and naked in less than a minute. Even though she's never said anything, I know it annoys her when I eat like that, so I force myself to sit down at the counter and actually chew my food.

"How was slaying tonight?" She always asks, and I know she really does want to know. I just have to be careful with how I answer. I've learned to not say things like - you shoulda been there - or - I can't wait till you're a slayer again. Saying shit like that leads to me sleeping on the floor. And after a crazy night of slaying - I definitely wanna sleep in my bed with my girl.

I grunt and roll my eyes. "Kendra is a fucking mess." I'm not usually for talking about people behind their backs but I hope we can help her figure out how to be a better slayer. Plus, I feel kinda bad for her. She was pretty much raised by the council, and they didn't let her do anything.

Those fuckers took her away from her family at birth. She doesn't even know who or where they are. They never let her have any friends or even do anything remotely fun. Makes me glad that I slipped through the cracks. Sure it kinda sucked not knowing what was happening to me, but at least I got to live my own life.

"Is she still trying to go through all the forms?" B rolls her eyes as she steals pepperoni from the slice I was about to eat.

"She totally is." Then I laugh as I remember how crazy tonight was. "It was insane tonight, B. She actually yelled at a vamp for not fighting right!"

"Oh my god!" B starts laughing hysterically. "What did the new watcher say to that?"

"He agreed with her!" It so amazing to see her laugh. She's been so bummed out lately - which I totally understand.

"You've got to help her - or she isn't going to last," B says once she stops laughing.

I wanna point out that she's gonna help too, once she gets her powers back - but I don't wanna upset her. So I leave that alone for now.

"I'm trying. She at least told Xander to fuck off." I can't believe what a jackass he is. Dating Cordy and trying to get with Willow and Kendra. Totally not cool. I'd beat his ass - but I know that would just upset B. I hope he's learned some kind of lesson now that Cordy dumped him after she got sick of watching him on every girl he saw. "Maybe we should invite her to hang out with us more? We can show her that it's possible to slay and still have fun once in a while."

"That's probably a good idea." B agrees, and I finish up the piece of pizza I was working on.

"Kendra is cool, though - she totally said she'd patrol alone on Friday." I have an amazing night planned for B's birthday. She thinks we're just going to the Bronze, but I have way more in store for her. I'm wicked excited about it, I've never had anyone that I cared about making happy before. All I ever want to do is make B happy and give her everything that I can.

"Really?" That perks B up and I'm just about done eating. I probably could eat a couple more slices, but I wanna get her upstairs and naked before I say anything to fuck things up.

"Yep - helped me convince Weasley and everything."

B rolls her eyes at the mention of the new watcher. "Did you hand in your nightly report?"

"He gave us a pass tonight since he was there - grading us."

"Grading? Are you serious?"

Now it's my turn to roll my eyes. "I wish I wasn't." It's bad enough that he makes me go to school - but getting graded for slaying is just fucking ridiculous. If it wasn't for B - there is no chance in hell that I'd be sticking around SunnyD.

I'm still pretty pissed off about the school thing. They couldn't figure anything out about my history so he just faked my records. I don't know why he couldn't just fake the whole thing. It's not like it matters if I learn any of this shit. Weasley is the last person I want to be thinking about right now - so I finish off what I was eating and start thinking about all the things I wanna do her once we get upstairs.

I put the rest of the pizza back in the fridge. Just in those few seconds that I had my back turned B's gotten all sad again. She's leaning against the counter, with her face buried in her hands. I approach from behind and wrap my arms around her waist.

I wish I knew what to say to her. I wish I knew how to make this better.

"Faith?" She asks, and I just know I'm gonna hate whatever she says next.

"Yeah?" I say, holding her close and trying really hard not to lose my cool.

"What happens if this is permanent? If I'm not a slayer anymore?"

"You will always be the slayer, B. The nerd squad will figure out what's up with your powers." My heart is racing, I'm trying to think if there's anything I can do or say to make her feel better. I really don't care if she has powers or not, as long as she's happy - that's the only thing that matters.

"Yeah, but…" She starts, and any hope for this night ending the way I want it to is gone. "If that doesn't happen - if I'm not special any more… will you still…"

"Woah! Hey!" I spin her around so that she can see how serious I am. "Superpowers are not what makes you special. Superpowers are not why…" Shit. I was just about to tell her I love her. I haven't said it yet - and I'm pretty sure she has no idea. The fact that she can even ask me what she was about to ask proves that she doesn't know.

"I won't be able to keep up with you." She pouts and looks away from me.

"B," I laugh and force her to look at me. "You do not need superpowers to keep up with me. I…" Alright, how can I explain this without actually saying it?

"You don't have to lie to try and make me feel better." She's standing there feeling sorry for herself, and I can totally understand why. What I can't figure out - is how to make it better.

"I'm not lying, B. Look." I'm trying not to let my frustration show. I know she's going through hell right now, and I'd be losing my mind if it were happening to me. "It's totally up to you how this goes."

That gets her to look up at me. "What do you mean?"

I run my fingers through my hair and try to figure out what I can say that isn't going to piss her off. "Either your powers come back, or they don't."

"Right?" Guess I'm confusing her enough that she's not super sad anymore.

"If you don't get your powers back… you get to have your life back."

"What does that mean?" She sounds a little angry now, that was what I was trying to avoid. But there's no turning back now, no way she lets this drop.

"It means…" Then I have to turn away from her. Cause I can't see her face when I say this. "It means that you can have any life you want. You can go anywhere you want - be anything you want. You're crazy smart, and if you aren't stuck being a slayer, you can have an amazing life."

And now I feel like I can't breathe. Why did she make me say that shit? Now that I've said it - it can't be unsaid, and we both know what she wants. I know she was trying to embrace being a slayer and saying that she didn't wanna be normal. But we both know that's bullshit. And now that I said it out loud, we both know that we both know it.

Can't pretend anymore. Can't act like whatever fucked up version of a future we might have together is what she wants. It wasn't an issue when she didn't have a choice. But now... if she does get her powers back, is she even gonna be happy about that?

It's different for me. If I'm not the slayer... I'm nothing.

But B will always be B.

She's trying to get me to look at her, but I'm not giving in, and she isn't strong enough to make me any more.

"Faith, please look at me."

I cross my arms over my chest and shake my head, refusing to turn around.

"Baby, please."

She's begging me now, and I feel bad for upsetting her - but I just can't deal with watching her lie to my face about what she wants.

"Is that what you want? For me to leave Sunnydale and be normal?"

I try to stay calm, so I can make sure she understands that I'm not trying to hurt her. "I just want you to be happy, B. I want you to have everything." Even if I'm not part of it. I can't bring myself to say that last part, but she knows what I meant.

"You are the only everything I care about having."

"B..."

She cuts me off by basically climbing over the counter to get in front of me. She wraps her legs around my waist so I can't get away without the risk of hurting her. "I mean it, Faith." I want to pull away, but the last thing I want is to hurt her.

"B, come on. You can go to college and be with all the other super-smart people. You shouldn't be slumming it with me. I'm never gonna be anything than trash."

"Hey!" She smacks me on the shoulder, and I think she hurt her hand a little. "That's my girlfriend you're talking about. I might not have super strength anymore, but I won't have you talking about the woman I lo…"

She stops short, but there's no doubt about what she was gonna say.

"I mean.." Then she blushes and looks away.

"Did you mean it?" I ask - my heart is racing. Can this be real? It has to be. I can tell how embarrassed and scared she is. Do I want it to be real? Fuck - of course, I do! I love the hell out of her, but I never imagined she felt the same way. If she does - that changes everything.

"I did mean it...I do." She says it like she's not sure I want to hear it.

"Yeah?" I ask and grip her hips, pulling her flush to me. Her body feels so good against mine.

"Yeah." She's got the sexiest smile ever, and I totally forget whatever we were just talking about. I want to pinch myself to make sure I'm not dreaming right now. Though B telling me she loves me is better than any dream I've ever had.

"Upstairs?" I ask, and she wraps her arms around my neck as she nods. I hold her tight to me and start for the stairs.

She's kissing my neck and pinching my nipples through my shirt. I almost stumble, but I manage to make it up the stairs without dropping her. It takes all my self-control to not just rip her clothes off and fuck her on the stairs. But that's not good enough for her. B deserves way more than that. Plus, I really don't want her ma catching us.

I carry her to our room and sit down in the bed with her still wrapped around me. We're kissing, and my hands are all over her. I don't even remember when we both lost our shirts, but I really don't care either.

I've never felt anything like this before, and I want the moment to last forever. "Say it," I whisper to her, and she pulls back a little so she can see my face.

"Say what?" She asks with an evil grin.

"Please, B." I didn't mean to beg, but I've never wanted to hear something so much in my entire life.

She lifts my chin, so I have to see her eyes.

"I love you."

In a flash, I flip us around, so she's on the bed, and I'm on top of her. I'm staring down at her, I know I must have the stupidest goofy grin on my face - but I don't care. Buffy Summers - the most incredible woman to ever exist - loves me.

"I love you." She says it again as she gently caresses my face.

If only I could say it back.

For now, she'll just have to settle for me showing her. I reach for both of her hands and guide them up to hold on to the headboard. She knows exactly what I plan on doing and she moans as she presses her body in to mine.

I start kissing her and slowly working down her body. She's making the sexiest noises - but I know it's annoying her at how slow I'm going. Once I get all of our clothes off I move back to where I'm just laying on top of her.

She still hasn't moved her hands, but her knuckles are white from how hard she's squeezing. "Try to relax, B. It's gonna be a long night."

"Oh, God!" She moans out as I guide my hand between her legs and very slowly start working her over. I'm moving slower than I ever have before. Just staring at her face as I watch her try not to scream. I gotta talk to Red about maybe setting up a silence spell or something on our room. I want B to be able to just totally let go.

It takes an hour, but I think she's finally had enough. She's still making super sexy noises, but she can barely keep her eyes open. I crawl up to where we're lying side by side. I spoon her from behind and kiss her neck one more time. "Good night, B"

"Night, baby." She mumbles back, and then instantly falls asleep.

I watch her for a while, I can only sorta see her face from where I am - but I can see how peaceful she's feeling.

I don't even know what to hope for right now. I meant what I said - all I care about is that she's happy.

I've never really thought about my future. Never expected to have one. But lying here with her... It just feels so fucking good. So right.

No matter what happens with her powers, I know we'll be able to make it work.

**Buffy**

I hate this so much.

Giles and that new watcher are being super weird. They have to know what's going on, but they won't tell me.

I wish Faith was here. It's my birthday, and she and Kendra get sent off on some stupid mission. I know she didn't want to go, but Wesley threatened to make her leave California forever if she didn't cooperate. I don't know if he can even do that, but we didn't want to take the risk. If he does make her leave, I've already decided that I'm going with her.

The only good thing about all this mess of losing my powers - is Faith. Once we got over all the nonsense about how I would want to have a normal life without her. I think she believes me when I say that I love her.

I really hope that she does. I plan to tell her as often as I can.

She still hasn't said it back, but with the way her face lights up when I say it - I don't care if she ever says it. Don't get me wrong - I hope she does, but just knowing how happy it makes her, its enough for me.

I'm trudging my way to the library. I really don't understand how walking can be so tiring. Stupid, weak body - how do people live like this? Giles keeps telling me I don't need to train until I get my powers back, but what else do I have to do, especially when Faith isn't here? I think he mostly doesn't want me to train because I keep breaking things. Why the hell does he keep such breakable stuff in the library anyway?

Whatever, I'm heading to the library all alone on my birthday. Maybe they figured something out about what's going on with my powers. Or maybe I'll get to hear something about the mission that Faith is on. I'm sure she's OK, but it would be nice to find out for sure.

I can hear Wesley and Giles arguing about something as I get to the library. I can't quite make out what they are saying, but Giles sure seems to be pissed off at Wes about something.

"I will not allow you..." Giles starts before Wesley cuts him off, but I have no idea what he said.

I listen for another few seconds, but they're talking quieter now, and I can't understand any of it.

I push the door open, hoping I can sneak in and hear something, but they spot me right away. Wesley's mouth snaps shut, and Giles frowns. Now I know for sure that they know what's going on. Giles can't even keep eye contact. It's a lot like the guilty look he had when he kept trying to apologize about telling me that I should just let Faith die.

If I can get Wesley to leave us alone, maybe I can get Giles to tell me something. I haven't even come close to forgiving him for what he said about Faith, but I can tell he at least feels a little bad about what he said.

We're all kind of staring at each other, and I'm getting more and more annoyed. If they know what's wrong with me, how could they not tell me?

"Buffy, I'm glad you are here. I could use your help with a project." Wesley says, and I don't at all hide how annoyed I am about that.

"Have you heard from Faith today? Did they finish the mission yet?" I ask Giles, completely ignoring Wesley.

"I've told you Buffy - Faith is out of communication. It is for her safety as well as ours." Wesley says, and I see Giles wince. So Giles knows more about where Faith is too. That is not making me feel any better.

Is Faith being gone somehow related to me losing my powers? Did she lose her powers too?

Wesley puts himself between Giles and me, trying to block me from being able to see him. "Buffy, I ask that you please respect the situation. Faith and Kendra are both very capable slayers, and I am confident they will complete their mission with no trouble at all."

I grit my teeth and take a few steps towards Wesley. Then I remember that I have no powers, even if I was able to land a punch or two, it wouldn't be enough to do the kind of damage I need to do. "This isn't about doubting anyone's ability - I just want to know where and how Faith is."

"Well, be that as it may - you cannot know where she is right now. If you help me with this project, perhaps that will distract you until she returns?" He smiles condescendingly at me and I just want to scream.

He starts trying to push me out of the library, but I dart around him and head towards Giles. "Giles - please tell me what's going on. Where is Faith? And what is wrong with me?"

He can't look at me, and I'm getting really frustrated. I want Faith and I want my powers back.

"At least tell me if she'll be OK?" I put on my best pout and batt my eyelashes at him. He shouldn't be able to resist.

Giles finally looks at me, but I don't like the look in his eye. "You should go with Wesley." My heart completely drops when he says that. I guess I should have expected it with how he has acted in the past. Faith was right - he doesn't care about me at all. I can feel the smarmy, self-satisfied smirk that Wes has, without even looking at him.

I don't have the energy to be upset about anything anymore. I just have to believe that Faith will get through whatever they are doing to her and come back to me.

I follow Wesley in silence out of the library and towards his car. I guess I should say that I'm silent - he won't shut up. Though I haven't been listening to a word of it.

We pull up to some old run-down looking house, and I really hope he's not expecting me to go in there. He's heading for the front door, so I guess yet another thing is not going my way today. I really don't have anything better to do, so I follow him to the front door. All I can do now is hope that I can get some info about Faith out of him if I cooperate.

"Ladies first." He says and motions for me to enter first like it's some kind of great honor he's giving me.

I roll my eyes and walk past him. And in new and completely not-at-all-shocking news - he shoves me into the house, and the door slams shut behind me.

This day could definitely not get any worse. I guess maybe I should have been paying more attention to whatever he was saying on the way over here. But it seems a little unlikely that he explained that he was going to be trapping me in an abandoned building.

I bang on the front door a little, but I can tell that it's pointless. All it's doing is hurting my hand and making me furious. It's pretty dark in here, just a little bit of light is making it through the boarded-up windows. It's just bright enough for me to see that it's dirty and disgusting.

Taking stock of my surroundings, there really isn't much to work with. A few pieces of broken furniture, not much else. Out of habit, I pick up a chair leg to use as a stake. I doubt there are any vampires in here, though. He wouldn't lock me in here completely defenseless if there were... right?

I hear something thump upstairs, and now I'm thinking that is exactly what he's done. Now things are making so much more sense. At least I'm less worried about wherever they sent Faith. They must have just wanted to get her away from Sunnydale so she wouldn't interfere with whatever they are up to.

White-hot rage is filling me. When I get out of here - and I will definitely get out of here - anyone who calls themselves a watcher better run.

I grip my stake and try my best to think my way out of this situation. They're probably watching from somewhere. I see flashing red lights in the upper corners of each room. They're too high for me to reach, so I can't break them. I settle for giving them the middle finger, and then I put them out of my mind.

Time to focus on finding whatever made that thump.

**Faith**

Fuck! Fuck! Fuck fuck fuck!

I am going to kill every one of those assholes if she's hurt.

I can tell by the first kick to this door that it's reinforced. Kendra tries to kick it too, but I stop her. Hoping that they didn't think to reinforce the wall next to the window, I motioned to it, and Kendra nods.

At the same time, we kick a couple of feet on either side of the window, and the whole wall crashes in.

"B!" I'm yelling as I run through the opening.

"In here." I follow her voice into the kitchen, and I can't make any sense of what I'm seeing.

"B?" I shake my head a little to clear my vision, cause what I'm seeing is making no sense at all. B is sitting at the kitchen table with a vamp. She hops up and wraps her arms around my waist.

"Meet my new friend, Kralik."

The vamp smiles at me and gives a creepy little wave with his fingers.


	10. Chapter 10

**Faith**

OK, what the fuck is going on here? Why the hell is B being all chummy with that insane looking vamp, and why the hell won't he stop grinning at me?

I don't at all like the way he's smiling at me, but I'm trusting Kendra to make sure he stays where he is. I look over at B, and I can't tell what she's thinking. She has her arm around my waist, and I try to be sneaky and make sure she still has a pulse. She notices right away, though, and rolls her eyes at me.

"I'm not turned." She squeezes me tighter and kisses me. "I just made nice with him so he wouldn't kill me. It was quite an educational experience."

The crazy vamp giggles a little and leans back in his chair with his arms crossed over his chest. "OK… so now what? Are we supposed to let him go now?" I fucking hope that's not what she's asking for here. That dude is clearly crazy and needs to be put down. I am definitely glad B was able to talk him into not killing her, but I hope she's not expecting me to just let a vamp walk.

"Well, I did make sort of a deal with him." She pulls me a little closer, so now I know she knows I'm not going to like this deal.

"What kind of deal?" I'm trying really hard not to get pissed off until I know the full score.

She drops her hand that was around my waist and backs up a little. She's looking kinda furious all of a sudden, and I really hope it's not my fault. "It turns out that the council has been using him to test slayers for over two hundred years."

"What the fuck?"

"They've kept him a prisoner and tortured him all this time. Just so he'd be extra crazed for when he tests the slayers. Not that all that many even make it to eighteen." B frowns, and I totally get why. I always figured the council was fucked up. I never imagined it was this fucked up, though. What the hell is the point of trying to kill any slayer that makes it to eighteen?

"So, what was this deal you made?" I don't even know how to process how angry I am right now. I can't help but hope that whatever her deal is - it means we never have to deal with those council assholes again.

"Well, honestly - I wasn't expecting that it was going to be you that found me. So I told him that when Wesley or whoever from the council showed up - that I wouldn't get in the way. How did you find me, anyway?"

"Giles." I didn't think about it when he showed up to tell me what was going on. But if this was a council thing - he had to have known before. He knew all along why she lost her powers and just let her think she was sick or crazy. That is so fucked. I knew he was an asshole, but I really did think he cared about B.

"That's surprising." B crosses her arms over her chest, I've never seen her so angry - I'm pretty sure I've never been this angry either. "He told me to come out here with Wesley. Why would he do that and then call you?"

I have no fucking clue why he did what he did, but I'm thinking of some ways we might be able to find out.

"I may be able to explain." Three new men in suits appear through the opening that Kendra and I made. I put myself protectively between B and these new people.

"Robin?" Kendra gasps as she stares at the one who spoke.

Robin smiles widely, and Kendra looks away with a grin she's trying to hide. Can't wait to find out what the story is there. Assuming her boyfriend can find some way to talk himself out of this.

Buffy stalks right up to Robin, not at all seeming to care that she still doesn't have her powers. "Please do explain. I can't wait to hear your justification for trying to kill me just because I managed to make it to the ripe old age of eighteen."

Robin quickly backs up and crashes into the two men who were standing behind him. Can't say I blame him for being scared of B. Then he seems to get his shit together and stands up straighter.

"Ah, yes. Ms. Summers - it was simply a misunderstanding."

"A misunderstanding!" B shouts at him and jabs him in the chest. "How is something the council has been doing for over two hundred years - suddenly a misunderstanding?"

Robin is now backed up against the wall, the two men he was with are out of the house completely. I'd be running from B too, if she ever got that pissed off at me.

"The council is under new leadership - Wesley simply chose to continue this asinine and archaic ritual without approval." Robin stuttered and couldn't even look at B. He kept glancing over at Kendra - thankfully, she's been smart enough not to step in. I'm starting to like her - I'd hate to have to beat her ass if she picked the wrong side here.

That gets B to step back slightly, though she is still clearly very pissed off. "How did Wesley manage to get a hold of your insane pet vampire then?"

"Ah, yes… well…" He can't get his words out, and B takes this as a victory. She looks over her shoulder at Kralik and nods to him. He grins and stands up, rubbing his hands together and starts to move towards the watchers. "Now wait a minute - please give me a chance to explain." Robin starts, and B shakes her head.

"I think you already got all the chance I'm willing to give," B says, and Robin is totally panicking now.

"Buffy…" Kendra starts - her eyes dart to Robin and B sighs.

"Fine. I will listen - but only because Kendra is vouching for you."

"Hey, now wait a minute. Promises were made!" Kralik steps forward. "I deserve something for everything I've been through!"

"How many?" B asks, and that seems to confuse him. "How many slayers have you killed?"

The vamp takes a step back and is now looking for an exit - but there isn't one. "I had no choice!" He shouts and takes an aggressive step towards B.

Before he even has a chance to get within 10 feet of her, he's got my stake jammed into his heart. As he vanishes, I see Kendra nailed him from the back at the same time. I grin at her, and she smiles back. We've been working pretty good together since B's been out of commission. I definitely want B out there with us again, but Kendra is starting to be a good slaying partner.

"Sorry for dusting your new friend." I really hope she wasn't serious about that.

She grins at me, and I relax a bit. "You are forgiven." She gives me a quick kiss and then goes back to staring at the new guy.

"When do I get my powers back?"

"She cheated! She should not be allowed to be a slayer!" Weasley is screaming and trying to get away from the two guys that are holding his arms.

Robin sighs and turns towards the opening, "your powers should return to you shortly."

"How shortly? How did they take them away in the first place?"

"When was the last dose?" Robin asks weasel-boy, and he snaps his mouth shut and refuses to answer.

"Dose? He's been drugging me?" Buffy is freaking out now, and I really hope I'm gonna get a chance to deal some damage to Wes. I'm kinda wishing we'd let Kralik live - I'm sure he'd have some fun ways to torture him.

"Yes, I'm afraid so," Robin answers, and I have never been so angry in all of my life.

"What is going to happen to him?" My fists are clenched, and I am very barely holding back. I feel like something is snapping inside of me. This asshole almost killed B. He's been drugging her. And somehow he's standing there and shouting about how he was right to do it.

Robin looks at me for the first time. "He will be sent back to England."

"That's it? No torture or being held in a dungeon? He just gets to go back home?" No fucking way. There is no chance in hell that he gets to just walk away from this.

"Well, we don't…" Robin starts, and I've heard enough. I rush forward and pull the Weasel away from the two other dudes in suits, and I throw him into the house. He crashes into the wall, and his limp body crashes to the ground.

I take a step towards him to finish him off, but B gets in my way. "Faith, please… please don't do this."

"Are you serious? He deserves to die for what he's done!"

"I know. But if you do this… I will lose you. And I can't lose you." She holds her hand to my cheek and as pissed off as I am - I can't resist her. I could never do anything that might hurt her.

"No! Don't!" The Weasel screams, nobody noticed Kendra heading over to him. She picked him up by his neck and slammed him into the wall.

"Choose," Kendra says, and Wes looks all around for help, but he's not getting help from any of us. She shakes him again, "Choose!"

"Choose what?"

Kendra tilts her head, "fine. I'll choose." Then she raises her hand and slowly moves her thumb towards his right eye.

He starts screaming louder, trying to get out of her grip. Weasley is crying and flopping all around, moving too much for Kendra to finish whatever it is that she's planning on doing. I look back at Robin, and it doesn't seem like he's going to get involved. The other watchers look like they don't know what to do either. I look over at B, and she shrugs. I decide that's enough approval for me to help Kendra out.

Weasley looks kinda relieved when I start towards them. Like he thinks I'm gonna save him. I grin, and he starts screaming again.

"Just don't kill him," B says, and as much as I want to - I get her point. Plus, now I'm thinking it'd be better to keep him alive. He doesn't feel bad about what he did yet. But I'm gonna make sure he feels bad for he rest of his life.

Kendra has him by the neck, guess she doesn't want to choke him, so it's not enough to keep his head still. I put one hand on his shoulder and the other on his forehead. He's still flopping around, but he can't move his head anymore. He's trying to punch us, but I can barely feel it.

"You can't do this! I am your watcher! I insist you let me go this instant!" The asshole still somehow thinks he's got a chance here. Kendra grins and starts slowing moving her thumb towards his eye again. "Wait, wait! I'll pick something else! Do anything else! Please stop!" He's screaming and trying to pull her hand away, but he's no match for her.

Kendra pulls her hand back like she's thinking about agreeing. "What were you going to do if she managed to survive this trap?"

The Weasel opens and closes his mouth a few times.

"There was never any chance she was walking out of this house - Was there?" I ask, and I clamp down - squeezing his shoulder until I feel bones crack, and he starts to scream again. Seems like Kendra followed my lead, and she's crushing his other shoulder. Finally, he passes out, and we both let go.

"Let's get the fuck out of here." I nod to Kendra and wrap my arm around B to walk us out of this hell-hole.

We move right passed the watchers, who seem to have the sense not to fuck with us right now.

"What is he doing here?" B growls and stops walking when we get to the street, and she sees Giles' car.

I hold up his car keys. "He's gone, just left me his ride."

B relaxes and starts walking again. "Hey - I don't know if you're in the mood... but I had some plans for tonight... it's not too late..." I kinda feel dumb for suggesting it. After the hell of this day, she probably just wants to go home and chill out.

"Plans?" She smiles at me, and I smile back. "Dancing?" She asks hopefully, and I nod. That's just the first part of the plan. My girl loves to dance, and I just know it will get her in the right mood for what I have planned for later.

I nod to Kendra, and she pulls out her phone to let everyone know that everything is on. "Are you cool with Kendra coming?" I ask as I open up the car door for her.

"Of course, I want her to come." She smiles and turns to Kendra, "Thank you for being here today and for having Faith's back this week. I hope you stick around and we can all keep working together." B gives Kendra a hug, and I'm pretty sure Kendra is thinking about crying. I know she worships B - not that I blame her.

"Thank you, I hope to stay in Sunnydale. But I'm not sure the council will allow it." Kendra says, and I wanna point out to her how we're not living by the council's rules anymore. I figure we can deal with that later. It's time to focus on giving B some good birthday memories.

"Since when do you have a driver's license?" She asks after I start the car up.

"You need a license to drive?" I wink at her, and she laughs at me. Like she always does when I'm being dumb.

"So, Kendra. What's up with the pretty-boy?" B smacks me, and I turn to her, having no idea why she would do that. "What?"

"You thought he was pretty?" She says with this ridiculous pout.

"Well - yeah. You trying to say he isn't?" She pouts harder and crosses her arms over her chest. I grab her hand and kiss the back of it, I'm a little surprised that she lets me. "It's not like I said he was prettier than you. Plus - pretty sure Kendra has dibs."

She rolls her eyes at me, but I think we're good at least until I say something else stupid. She turns to Kendra. "What's the story there? Don't make me regret not letting Kralik kill him."

I catch Kendra in the rear-view, and I can tell she's not sure how to take what B said. She's relaxed a lot, but she still doesn't always get the way we joke with each other. "She's kidding."

"Mostly. I was mostly kidding." B laughs, and Kendra looks even more freaked out. "I'm kidding! I was never going to let Kralik do anything. He was crazy." B shudders a little, and Kendra finally seems to get the joke.

"I met him several times over the years. Whenever I would visit the council or go on council retreats."

"There were retreats?" B asks, and I'm mostly wondering what the hell a retreat even is.

"Yes... the last one was in Hawaii. They said you didn't want to go." Kendra says, very confused.

"Didn't want to go!" B shouts and growls a little as she flops back against her seat. "Who doesn't want to go to Hawaii?!"

Kendra looks like she doesn't know what to say or do. Her hero is freaking out, and it's kinda her fault, so I try to think about how to get Kendra back to telling us about her boy-toy.

"Why was Robin there? Looks pretty young to be a watcher."

"Oh... he's the son of a slayer." I almost forget how to drive for a second. I never thought slayers could have kids. Shit... what if B wants to have kids? I'm afraid to look at her. She's gotta know that I could never be a good ma. Fuck - not like I'm gonna live long enough for that to even matter. Damn it, I gotta shake this off. Gotta make sure B has the best birthday ever - I can panic about our future tomorrow.

B rubs her hand on my thigh, almost like she knows I'm freaking out. She squeezes it a little and smiles at me. "Relax, baby." She whispers to me, and I try to listen. It takes just a few more seconds, and finally, I think I'll be OK.

"She must have been very young. Since the council made sure no slayer made it past eighteen." That's not what I was expecting B to say, but I guess that makes sense.

"She was. And as I understand it - they took him from her. She tried to keep him hidden, but her watcher turned on her."

"Of course, they did." B rolls her eyes and shakes her head. "So, do you like him?" I can't help but laugh a little at how cute B is being. She goes from super badass slayer to girlie girl in an instant—one of the many things I love about her.

Kendra blushes and makes a funny little noise. "I.. he's a bit older than me. It wouldn't be appropriate."

I laugh, and B smacks me again. We're gonna have to have words about all this violence. Though she's never done anything like that before.

"What's so funny?" Kendra asks, and I think that hit from B tells me she knows what I'm about to say. I should take the warning and keep my mouth shut for once.

I can't help myself, I dig myself deeper. "B's last boyfriend was like 200 years older than her."

"What!?" Kendra is super shocked, and I feel kinda bad for joking about this now.

"He was never my boyfriend," B argues, and I really hope I can figure out how to undo pissing her off. She's not saying much now cause Kendra's here, but I know that was stupid, and I gotta fix it.

"I'm just messing around." I put my hand on B's leg, and she's got her arms crossed, but at least she didn't hit me again. "I'm just saying - we're slayers, and our lives are weird. If you like him and think there's something there - you should go for it."

"I don't know. He probably doesn't..." Kendra frowns and looks out the window.

"Hey - can't hurt to at least try."

"I guess." Kendra frowns again, "I don't even know if he'll be staying here."

Not sure what else to say. Being supportive isn't exactly something I'm good at. We pull up to the Bronze, and B is frowning. Not sure why I gotta always say stupid shit. Kendra hops out of the car, and I try to figure out what to say.

"Hey - I'm sorry for being an asshole about Angel," I say, and she looks at me and smiles.

"I wasn't really upset about that."

"You smacked me!"

"Yeah - but it was like a love smack." She grins and leans over the seat to kiss me.

"Then what's up? Something is bugging you."

She sits back and sighs a little. "Today just really sucked. And who the hell knows what is going to happen next."

"I know this doesn't fix everything - but G-man felt pretty shitty about all this. So we have the car for the weekend and..." I pull out my phone to show her the other thing Giles hooked me up with. I could only afford a shitty motel room and only for one night. But Giles felt so guilty that he upgraded us big time. It almost makes me not want to murder him. Almost.

"Room service?"

"Hell yeah." She's smiling again, and I give her a quick kiss before I hop out of the car to open her door.

"I really need my powers to come back." She finally gets out of the car and wraps her arms around me. "I know you say I don't need them... but... if I'm going to have any chance of doing all the things I want to do to you this weekend - I'm definitely going to need them."

I can't help but moan a little as I think about that. Don't get me wrong, I meant everything I said about B and her powers. She doesn't need 'em to keep up with me. I wouldn't love her any less without 'em. But there are definitely advantages.

I think I spaced out a little cause she's laughing at me and trying to tug me towards the entrance.

Willow comes running up to us as soon as we get in there.

"Happy Birthday, Buffy!" She blows on one of those noise-makers and puts a stupid hat on B. Xander snuck up and sticks one on me too, while I was watching B. She just looks so fucking happy - I don't even care how stupid I look.

We get in there, and there's a couple of tables sectioned off where all her friends are with a pile of presents. We sit down, with me leaning against the wall and her basically in my lap. I'm barely even paying attention to what's going on. I'm just watching her and seeing how happy she is as she opens her presents and talks with her friends.

I mean, I know this isn't like some new thing I dreamed up, but I got all this setup - so at least a little of why she's so happy is 'cause of me. I can tell she's grateful too, the way she's leaning into me and squeezing my thigh once in a while. Even though she's talking to all these other people, she's still thinking about me.

"Dance?" Not even waiting for my answer, she stands up and holds her hand out to me. Not like I was gonna say no.

We're dancing in the middle of the floor, totally ignoring everyone around us. Most of the regulars know who we are so they know the score - but there's always one or two dudes that don't understand and don't know when to back off.

I'm not letting anything like that fuck this night up, so I make sure to stay nice and close to her. Nobody we don't know gets to be anywhere near her tonight. I'm kinda worried that without her powers she might get tired, but she's not letting it stop her.

She's definitely leaning into me more than she usually does, but no way am I complaining about that. After about an hour on the floor, she pulls me in close. I think she's about to say she needs a break when she wraps her arms around my neck and pulls me close to kiss me.

"Thank you so much, baby." She says and kisses me more, dropping her hands down to my waist. "I think my powers are coming back."

She squeezes my ass to test out her strength, and I can't help but moan a little.

"Ready to get out of here?"

"Fuck yea," I say and follow her around as she says goodbye to everyone. It's not really that late, especially not for us - but she just pretends like she's tired so they don't give her a hard time.

She's all over me as I drive us to the hotel. I can barely focus on what I'm doing - especially not once she starts with the dirty talk in my ear. I don't know how the fuck I manage it, but I get us to the hotel without crashing into anything.

This hotel is crazy fancy, and I'm kinda freaking out a little that they're gonna know we don't belong here. I at least figure they'll hassle us at the check-in, but they just hand us the keycard, and off we go. We behave ourselves on the way to the room, I definitely don't wanna get kicked out before we even get started.

"Holy shit," B says when she pushes the door open.

I'm pretty sure this is the nicest room I've ever been in, the main lounge area is bigger than any place I stayed back in Boston.

"This is incredible!" B is checking everything out, and I'm just trying to not totally panic and worry that I don't belong here. "Faith, you have to see this!"

I finally manage to get moving and follow her voice to the fanciest bathroom I've ever seen in my entire life. It's got this big ass bathtub and another whole shower section.

B gets the tub going and then starts peeling off her clothes. "Are you OK?" She finally notices that I haven't moved.

"Yeah, sorry... just kinda more than I expected."

She just smiles at me and finishes getting undressed. "Relax, baby. You deserve this too."

Now she's kissing me, and she's moving so slow that I don't even realize that she managed to take all my clothes off too. She pulls me into the shower, and I'm finally starting to ignore where we are and just think about how amazing she is and how much I wanna do for her. I'm surprised when she's shutting off the shower before I even get a chance to touch her like I want.

"Just had to rinse off after being in that nasty house all day. I think the tub is ready now." She slides in first, and I'm kinda not sure what I'm supposed to do. She stands back up and smiles at me before holding out her hand.

I feel like such an idiot. I wanted to give her this amazing night, but I can't seem to stop freaking out. I take her hand cause I don't know what else to do. She then guides me to sitting kinda sideways to her with my back up against the jets and her legs wrapped around my waist.

The water feels amazing, and I do my best to figure out how to relax.

"Faith?" I turn to look at her, and I don't know what's going on cause I can barely see her. "What's wrong, baby? Please tell me why you're crying."

Crying! What the fuck - I don't cry. Never have - never will. I try to pull away from her, but she won't let me. She's definitely got her powers back, cause I can't get away from her. She pulls me so that I'm laying against her, and she's just got her arms around me.

She starts whispering all these things to me, and now I'm shaking, and I still can't figure out why.

"It's OK. Let it out."

Oh, fuck - I am crying! Why the hell am I crying? This place is incredible, and B keeps telling me over and over how much she loves me. "I almost lost you." I finally say, and somehow that breaks me. I sit up and just keep sobbing until I feel like I can't breathe.

Finally, after forever, I manage to get control of myself. I try to turn around, but she won't let me. I figure she must be annoyed that I've ruined her night. "Sorry about that - I'm good now."

She kinda chuckles and presses soft kisses into my neck. "You have nothing to apologize for."

"I kinda ruined the mood. We got this sweet room - we should be enjoying it." I try to turn around again, hoping to get back on track but she still won't let me. "C'mon. I said I'm sorry - let me..."

I'm silenced by her hands. One slides up and pinches my nipple and the other starts sliding down. I'm so confused cause I thought she was mad. But seems like she's definitely not. "You have nothing to apologize for." She says again and does that thing that she knows makes me pop off instantly.

I feel like I'm cumming for minutes as she holds me and keeps the pressure on. I think I'm screaming but I'm so out of it - I got no idea what's going on. Finally, she lets up and I start coming back to reality.

"Fuck, B. I love you so much!" I think that shocked her enough that she finally let me turn around to face her.

"You love me?" She asks and she looks totally confused.

"Yeah, B. I think I loved you from the moment I saw you. I just... I didn't understand..." I shake my head a little, cause I don't wanna start crying again. I really hope that's not a thing that just keeps happening. When I finally manage to get control of myself I look down and she's got this huge smile on her face. "Happy birthday?" I ask in a goofy way, hoping to lighten the mood up a bit.

She burst out laughing and pulls me in for a kiss. "Best birthday ever." Then she scoops me up and walks out of the tub. We quickly dry off and before she can stop me, I pick her up and carry her over to the bed.

"My turn," I say and then proceed to torment her for the next two hours.

I can't believe I finally told her that I love her. I plan to spend the rest of my life proving it to her over and over.


End file.
